For patients with hypertension, physicians typically use a single in-office blood pressure (BP) reading to assess how well medical interventions are working and then adjust hypertension medications accordingly.
However, some patients may experience a phenomenon known as “white coat” hypertension, meaning they have a higher than normal BP due to the anxiety associated with the office visit.
Researchers sought to determine how many readings would be needed to accurately determine whether a patient’s BP was under control. They followed 444 veterans with hypertension for 18 months to compare three different strategies for BP measurement: standardized research BP measurement every six months; in-office BP measurements taken during outpatient visits; and home BP measurements using a monitor that transmitted results electronically.
The researchers found that taking an average BP reading from several measurements resulted in substantially greater accuracy in diagnosis.
The authors recommend that home monitoring could improve the quality of blood pressure care.