Home Blood Pressure Testing Better Than at Clinics: Study
March 8, 2022 — Everyone was there. You’ve arrived at your scheduled doctor’s appointment,
And the first thing on the case is reuniting with a blood pressure cuff. The first reading can be high. The second reading looks a little better – or maybe a little worse. Which one is right? Answer: Perhaps neither. Individual blood pressure measurements are not as accurate as taking multiple measurements throughout the day and averaging them.
Blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day—by about 30 points for systolic pressure.
Or pressure when the heart is beating—and one or two measurements in the doctor’s office may not accurately reflect the average. Says Beverly B. Green, MD. senior fellow at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Mean blood pressure is the only measurement by which a doctor can accurately diagnose and treat high blood pressure. She says. BUT new research Green and other Kaiser Permanente researchers show that allowing patients. Monitoring their blood pressure at home can help get more reliable measurements.
In a new study published in the Journal of General Internal MedicineGreen
And her colleagues found that home readings were more accurate than measurements taken in clinics or drugstores. “Blood pressure monitoring at home was the best option because it was more accurate” than clinic blood pressure readings, says Green. BUT companion study found that patients prefer to have their blood pressure taken at home, she says. In their study, Green’s group used Kaiser’s electronic health record system to identify people at high risk for high blood pressure based on a recent clinic visit. They then randomly assigned participants to obtain follow-up blood pressure readings at the clinic, at home, or at kiosks in clinics or pharmacies.
The value of home monitoring
- Branden Villavaso, a 48-year-old New Orleans lawyer who was diagnosed with high blood pressure at 32, attributes his condition to genetics. He says that a home monitor plus occasional ABPM use has finally given his doctor an accurate assessment of his condition.
- Thanks to this aggressive approach, over the last 3 years, Villavaso’s diastolic pressure has fallen from its former range of 90 to 100 to a more healthy, but not entirely ideal, value of around 80. Meanwhile, his systolic pressure has dropped to around 120, good. below the target of 130.
- Villavaso says his doctor relied on average blood pressure readings to help guide his medication, and he also credits his wife Chloe, a clinical nurse, for monitoring his progress.
- While previous studies have found similar benefits of home blood pressure measurement, Greene says the latest study may provide the strongest evidence to date because of the large number of people who took part, the involvement of primary care clinics, and the use of real-world health professionals take measurements instead of people who usually do health research. She says this study is the first to compare kiosk and ABPM results.
