BMJ  2004;329:870-871 (16 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7471.870

Editorial

Self monitoring of blood pressure at home

Is an important adjunct to clinic measurements

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

Although measurement of blood pressure in the clinic is said to be the cornerstone of decision making in hypertension, such measurements may be unrepresentative of a patient's true blood pressure because of random fluctuations and the white coat effect.^1-4 In addition, doctors rarely measure blood pressure according to recommended standards.⁴ Aimed at improving hypertension management, the 2003 US Joint National Committee recommends the use of self monitoring of blood pressure before considering the more expensive, but better validated ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure.² Both the Joint National Committee and the 2003 guidelines from the European Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology suggest that self monitoring might also be used as an alternative to ambulatory monitoring for the diagnosis of white coat hypertension.^{1 2} The 2004 British Hypertension Society guidelines also acknowledge the increasing use of self monitoring in clinical practice and provide a threshold level for the diagnosis . . . [Full text of this article]

Hypertension Center, Third University Department of Medicine, Sotiria Hospital, 152 Mesogion Avenue, Athens 11527 Greece

Division of Hypertension and Vascular Medicine, Medizinische Poliklinik, University Clinic Bonn, Wilhelmstrasse 35, D-5311 Bonn, Germany

Department of Medical Sciences, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2HU

University of Milano-Bicocca, Cardiology II, S. Luca Hospital, via Spagnoletto, 3, 20149-Milan, Italy

ADAPT Centre and Blood Pressure Unit, Beaumont Hospital and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 9, Ireland, (eobrien@iol.ie)

ADAPT Centre and Blood Pressure Unit, Beaumont Hospital and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 9, Ireland

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Asayama, K., Ohkubo, T., Kikuya, M., Obara, T., Metoki, H., Inoue, R., Hara, A., Hirose, T., Hoshi, H., Hashimoto, J., Totsune, K., Satoh, H., Imai, Y. (2006). Prediction of Stroke by Home "Morning" Versus "Evening" Blood Pressure Values: The Ohasama Study. Hypertension 48: 737-743 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Gutknecht, D. R (2005). Review: home or self blood pressure monitoring improves clinic blood pressure in essential hypertension. Evid. Based Med. 10: 40-40 [Full text]  
• Kelham, C. L (2005). Self monitoring of blood pressure at home: Informed self regulation of drug treatment could be next step. BMJ 330: 148-148 [Full text]  
• Aylett, M. (2005). Self monitoring of blood pressure at home: Primary care professionals remain sceptical. BMJ 330: 148-148 [Full text]  

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