Reliability of patients measuring blood pressure at home: Prospective observational study

Abstract

Measuring blood pressure at home is recommended to distinguish sustained hypertension from white coat hypertension and to monitor treatment. Blood pressure measured at home is a better predictor of 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, target organ damage, and cardiovascular mortality than that measured by a doctor. We aimed to assess the accuracy of patients measuring blood pressure at home, to identify predictors of poor accuracy, and to determine if poor accuracy impairs assessment of hypertension.