BMJ 2001;322:908-911 ( 14 April )

Clinical review

Evidence based treatment of hypertension

Measurement of blood presssure: an evidence based review

This is the first in a series of five articles on the treatment of hypertension

Finlay A McAlister, assistant professor ^a, Sharon E Straus, assistant professor ^b. 

^a Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2R7, ^b Division of General Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada M5G 1X5

Correspondence to: F A McAlister Finlay.McAlister@ualberta.ca

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The reasons for routinely measuring blood pressures in adults are evident. Raised blood pressure is a common condition that does not have specific clinical manifestations until target organ damage develops. It confers a substantial risk of cardiovascular disease (particularly in the presence of concomitant risk factors), much of which is at least partially reversible with treatment. Finally, screening adults to detect hypertension early and initiate treatment before the onset of target organ damage is highly cost effective.¹

Accurate measurement is of paramount importance. For example, consistently underestimating the diastolic pressure by 5 mm Hg could result in almost two thirds of hypertensive individuals being denied potentially lifesavingand certainly morbidity preventingtreatment²; consistently overestimating it by 5 mm Hg could more than double the number of individuals diagnosed as hypertensive (half of whom would be inappropriately labelled and treated).²

Table Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)

	What can interfere with the accuracy of blood pressure measurement?

Most people's blood pressure varies substantially throughout the day. Lowest readings occur . . . [Full text of this article]

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