Monitoring Blood Pressure At Home

What Is Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

In England, there are over eight million people diagnosed with hypertension .

A blood pressure test is a simple way of checking if someones blood pressure is too high or too low. Blood pressure tests can be carried out at a number of places, including at home using a patients own digital blood pressure monitor, a local pharmacy and GP practice, at an NHS Health Check appointment , or even in some supermarkets.

Home blood pressure monitoring enables patients with hypertension to measure and share their blood pressure readings with their GP from their home.

There are a variety of low-cost blood pressure monitors available that patients can buy to use at home. Its important that any equipment has been properly tested. The British and Irish Hypertension Society has information about validated blood pressure monitors.

Home blood pressure monitoring has been identified as a priority for cardiovascular disease management as the NHS recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that patients can manage their hypertension well and remotely, reducing the need to attend GP appointments.

Buy A Blood Pressure Monitor

Pharmacies and online merchants sell a variety of blood pressure monitors. Monitors typically range in price from $50 to $100, although a higher price doesn’t necessarily correlate to better quality. Ask your health insurance company whether it will cover part or all of the cost.

When shopping for a blood pressure monitor, look for these features:

• Buy a monitor that goes around your upper arm. Dr. Zusman doesn’t recommend wrist or finger monitors because they aren’t as accurate.

• An automatic monitor is easiest to use, because it doesn’t require a stethoscope and the cuff inflates by itself. Manual monitors require you to squeeze a bulb to inflate the cuff, which can be hard to do if you have arthritis.

• Choose a monitor that meets standards for your age and health conditions according to an organization such as the European Society of Hypertension, dabl Educational Trust, or the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation . Each organization has posted its list of approved devices on its website.

• Make sure the cuff fits your arm. If it’s too large or too small, the reading won’t be accurate.

• Check that the numbers on the dial or display are large enough for you to read clearly.

• Determine what other features you want in a blood pressure monitor. Some monitors will take an average of your last few readings, record your measurements over time, and send them to your doctor via your smartphone.

Before You Measure Your Blood Pressure

• Avoid things that can raise your blood pressure in the short term. Dont measure your blood pressure within half an hour of eating, smoking, drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee, or exercising. These can all raise your blood pressure temporarily. If you need to use the toilet, go before you measure your blood pressure.
• Wear loose-fitting clothes. Wear a short-sleeved t-shirt or something with sleeves you can push up easily, nothing tight. This is so that you can fit the cuff around your arm.
• Rest for five minutes before you take your reading. Sit down somewhere quiet, ideally at a desk or table. Have your back supported with your arm resting on a firm surface and your feet flat on the floor. Stay in this position while you take your blood pressure.
• Make sure your arm is supported and at the same level as your heart. Position yourself so that your arm is resting on a surface and is at the same height as your heart. Keep your arm and hand relaxed, not tensed.
• Make sure you are relaxed and comfortable. If you are anxious or uncomfortable, your blood pressure will rise temporarily.

Read Also: How To Lower High Diastolic Blood Pressure

Are There Other Uses For 24

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is increasingly being used to determine how well some antihypertensive drugs can control high BP. In some cases, antihypertensive drugs dont control BP effectively throughout the entire day and night. A doctor may need to adjust the dosage prescribed or the time that the medication is given, depending on the patients BP patterns. In other cases, more than one drug may be required to stabilize BP.

Ambulatory BP monitoring can also help to predict the likelihood of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease linked to hypertension and organ damage.

Ambulatory BP monitoring may also be suitable in other situations, such as for:

• Pregnant women with hypertension.

What Is High Blood Pressure

A blood pressure reading includes a systolic pressure reading and a diastolic pressure reading. The systolic reading is the first number, while the diastolic reading is the second number that appears on the monitor. A normal reading is usually 120/80 or lower. Doctors typically consider a systolic reading of 130 to 139 and a diastolic reading between 80 and 89 as prehypertension. Higher numbers indicate hypertension or high blood pressure.

Risk factors that can make you susceptible to high blood pressure include smoking, heavy drinking, stress, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity and being over 60 years old. Youre also more likely to have hypertension if you eat a high sodium diet or have other health conditions such as diabetes, kidney problems or heart disease. Finally, some medications can raise your blood pressure.

Even if you lead a healthy lifestyle, having a family history of hypertension can also put you at risk because genetics can play a significant part in developing high blood pressure.

Recommended Reading: Is Red Wine Good For High Blood Pressure

Working With Your Doctor Or Nurse

You wont usually make a decision about treatment based solely on the readings you have taken at home. But they may find it useful to know what youre blood pressure is like when youre away from the clinic.

Talk to your doctor or nurse before you start to measure your blood pressure at home. They advise you on when to measure your blood pressure and how often, and this can help you both to be clear about what you are doing and why.

Bring your records with you to your appointments so they can use it to review your treatment.

Make sure your monitor is suitable and you know how to use it

It is a good idea to bring your monitor to the appointment so that your doctor or nurse can check that it is validated and accurate, that it fits properly, and that you know how to use it. They can show you if youre not sure.

Read more

For further information on home monitoring, download our booklet, .

Why Measure Your Blood Pressure At Home

The stress of having your blood pressure measured in clinic can make your blood pressure go up temporarily, so your reading is higher than it should be this is known as the .

Coupled with the fact you can only check your blood pressure in a clinic every so often, keeping an eye on your numbers at home can give you and your doctor or nurse a more complete picture of what your blood pressure is like from day to day, and how well your treatments or lifestyle changes are working.

Many people also find that monitoring their blood pressure at home helps them feel more in control, so since 2001, NICE have recommended GPs offer home blood pressure monitoring.

Recommended Reading: Does Cancer Cause High Blood Pressure

Potential Policy Mechanisms And Guidance

Table 5. Summary Points

ABPM indicates ambulatory blood pressure BP, blood pressure CPT, Common Procedural Terminology DBP, diastolic blood pressure and SBP, systolic blood pressure.

To ensure the successful widespread implementation of self-measured BP monitoring, there should be financial investment in building and supporting infrastructure for self-measured BP monitoring. This includes improving education and training, building health information technology capacity, incorporating self-measured BP readings into clinical performance measures, supporting cointerventions, and enhancing reimbursement.

Education and Training

Health Information Technology Capacity

Information technology solutions should make it possible to transfer readings from the devices to the providers in the form of printed results or, more preferably, in the form of electronically transmitted data. Systems that are able to move the transmitted data directly into electronic health record fields are ideal because they will facilitate the interaction between patients, BP readings, and providers so that decisions about treatment initiation and intensification can be made efficiently and jointly. Individual BP readings summary BP metrics, including average BP and process quality control measures such as the timing of readings, number of readings, and duration of the monitoring period should be included in the electronic health record for the providers to review.

Clinical Performance Measures

Blood Pressure Monitoring At Home

Last Updated August 2022 | This article was created by familydoctor.org editorial staff and reviewed by Kyle Bradford Jones

Many people monitor their blood pressure at home. They often do this to manage or treat a certain health condition. If you monitor your blood pressure at home, keep a record or log of the measurements. The record shows your doctor how your blood pressure changes throughout the day. If you take medicines to control your blood pressure, it will help document if they are working. Measuring your blood pressure at home is a good way to actively manage your health.

You May Like: What Is Blood Pressure Reading

How To Use An Automated Blood Pressure Machine

The simplest way to measure your own blood pressure is to purchase an automated cuff. Automatic blood pressure machines are easy to use, and theyre helpful if you have any hearing impairments.

These types of blood pressure cuffs have a digital monitor that will display your blood pressure reading on a screen. You can purchase these online, at most grocery stores, or at a health food store.

The American Heart Association recommends an automated, upper arm blood pressure monitor for at-home use. To use your digital blood pressure monitor, carefully follow the instructions that come with the monitor. You can also take the monitor to your doctors office, or even your local pharmacy, for a demonstration.

You should also have a notebook to use as a blood pressure log. This can be helpful for your doctor. You can also a free blood pressure log from the AHA.

Automated blood pressure machines can give you a different reading than a manual blood pressure reading.

Bring your cuff to your next doctors appointment so you can compare the reading from your cuff to the reading thats taken at your doctors office. This can help you calibrate your machine and identify the blood pressure levels you should look for on your own device.

Even if you check your blood pressure at home, your doctor will still want to manually check it during appointments.

Our Pick: Greater Goods Blood Pressure Monitor + Kit 0602

You save $11

If you dont need or want a Bluetooth monitor, the Greater Goods Blood Pressure Monitor + Kit 0602 has the same cuff, minimal noise levels, two-user maximum, irregular heartbeat detection, and dual-power options as its Bluetooth-enabled counterpart, with a slightly different display. Like the 0604, this blood pressure monitor is usable immediately out of the box, and switching between userswhile not as easy as with the 0604requires only a couple of button pushes.

Like the 0604, the 0602 runs quietly and displays results for about a minute after delivering your reading. Unlike the 0604, the 0602 is unable to average any measurements, though it can store up to 60 entries per user, if you want to calculate your averages manually. There is no way to export your readings via email, USB, Bluetooth, or any other meansyoull need to write them down or log them digitally on your own.

While the 0602 can work on either battery power or with an AC adapter, unless there are working batteries installed, it resets the date and time every time its unplugged. When this happens, previous readings stay in the machine, but its possible to jumble dates and times if a user is rushed and simply clicks through without properly selecting the month, year, day, hour, and minute.

When set up correctly, the 0602 requires two clicks to start, even when theres only one user on the device, versus the 0604s single click.

Read Also: How Much Potassium To Lower Blood Pressure

Prediction Of Cardiovascular And Stroke Morbidity And Mortality

Many, but not all, prospective studies have found that HBPM predicts CV and stroke morbidity and mortality more accurately than office BP the major studies are summarised in Table 2. A meta-analysis included 5,008 people who had home and conventional BP measurements and were not being treated with antihypertensive medication that would influence the prognostic outcome. Participants were stratified into five categories of BP: optimal, 120/80 mmHg normal, 120129/8084 mmHg highnormal, 130139/8589 mmHg mild hypertension, 140159/9099 mmHg and severe hypertension, 160/100 mmHg. At every level of BP below severe hypertension, the additional measurements obtained from HBPM improved risk stratification, supporting the use of HBPM in routine assessment of risk. This finding could refine risk stratification in people with optimal, normal or high-normal BP, who are not conventionally treated. A recent systematic review compared HBPM with ABPM in terms of outcomes including heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and/or all-cause mortality and concluded that HBPM encourages patient-centred care and improves BP control and patient outcomes.

How To Choose The Right Blood Pressure Monitor

If you decide to measure your blood pressure at home, you might be given a monitor by the hospital or GP surgery, but you will probably need to buy a home monitor.

There are a wide range of home blood pressure monitors available, which can seem confusing. The most important thing is to make sure it gives you accurate results and is easy to use.

Whatever monitor you choose, make sure that it is:

• this means it has been tested and gives results that you can trust
• with an upper arm cuff these are the easiest to use and most reliable
• you dont need to go for an expensive machine, it just needs to be clinically validated and easy to use

You May Like: How Do You Know You Have Hypertension

Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors

Most people use an automatic monitor to measure their blood pressure at home. These are also called electronic or digital monitors. They have a microphone to detect blood pulsing in the artery. The cuff wraps around your upper arm. When you press the start button on the monitor, the cuff automatically inflates. Then the cuff automatically deflates, and the monitor takes your blood pressure.

Recommendations For The Use Of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for HBPM recommend that when using HBPM to confirm a diagnosis of hypertension it is necessary to ensure that:

• for each BP recording, two consecutive measurements are taken, at least 1 minute apart with the person seated
• BP is recorded twice daily, ideally in the morning and evening and
• BP recording continues for at least 4 days, ideally for 7 days.

Measurements taken on the first day should be discarded and the average value of the remaining days after day one is discarded be used.

Recommended Reading: Can Being Overweight Cause High Blood Pressure

Flaws But Not Dealbreakers

While the 0604 can run on either battery power or with an AC adapter, unless there are working batteries installed, the machines date and time reset every time its unplugged. This doesnt affect the storage capacity on the app or device, but it does add a few extra seconds to testing time, which normally requires just a single click of the start button, and dates can become jumbled if programmed improperly .

Best Fit: Welch Allyn Home Blood Pressure Monitor 1700 Series With Surebp Technology

• Ready to use out of box

• Connected app is easy to navigate

• No carrying case included

We loved the fit of this monitors cuff, which holds its cylindrical shape at all times and makes it easy to fit properly onto your arm. This makes it great for those with limited mobility and keeps setup quick and fuss-free.

The connected app is another great feature of this device: it stores multiple readings, indicates irregularity in readings, and is easy to connect to quickly. Data taken on the monitor uploads immediately to the app, so you get real-time feedback as you take your measurements.

While the monitor itself is lightweight, it doesnt come with a carrying case which might make it harder to travel with when needed. Because of this aspect, we gave this device a three out of five for portability and a four out of five for overall value.

Average Standard Deviations

Price at time of publish: $152

Verywell Health / Nick Kova

Power Source: Batteries or AC adapter | Maximum Readings Stored on Device: 99 | Number of Users It Can Store Data For: 1 | Weight: 1.2 lbs

Also Check: Blood Pressure Medication Over The Counter

Tips For Using Your Blood Pressure Cuff

To get the most accurate blood pressure reading, remember the following tips:

• Make sure the blood pressure cuff is the right size for you. Cuffs come in different sizes, including pediatric sizes if you have very small arms. You should be able to comfortably slip one finger between your arm and the cuff when its deflated.
• Avoid smoking, drinking, or exercising 30 minutes before taking your blood pressure.
• Be sure to sit with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor. Your feet shouldnt be crossed.
• Take your blood pressure at different times of the day and record exactly what time each blood pressure measurement is taken.
• Rest 3 to 5 minutes before taking your blood pressure and a few extra minutes if youve recently been very active.
• Take at least two readings every time to make sure theyre correct. The readings should be within a few numbers of each other.
• Take your blood pressure at different times throughout the day over a period of time to get the most accurate readings and ranges.
• Bring your own at-home monitor to your doctors office at least once a year to calibrate it and make sure its working correctly.