How should we take blood pressure in clinical practice?

doi:10.1136/bmjusa.02100003

BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmjusa.02100003, (Published 26 January 2003)

Editorials

How should we take blood pressure in clinical practice?

The wider use of home and ambulatory monitoring should be encouraged

Papers BMJUSA p 549

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

From BMJ USA 2002;October:541

It is increasingly clear that the traditional way of measuring blood pressure in the clinic or office frequently producesnumbers that grossly overestimate a patient's true blood pressurelevel. This is a major problem, since it is one of the most importantand frequent measurements made by physicians. Two major trendshave brought this issue to the forefront: first, the developmentof new technologies for measuring blood pressure; and second,the increasing body of evidence that even mild elevations of bloodpressure are associated with increased cardiovascularrisk.

The traditional gold standard for evaluating blood pressure has been clinic readings made by a physician using a mercury sphygmomanometer.It is hallowed by time, and also by the fact that it has beenthe standard method for evaluating the risks associated with highblood pressure and the benefits of treating it. It has been knownfor more . . . [Full text of this article]

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Marshall, T. (2006). Misleading measurements: modeling the effects of blood pressure misclassification in a United States population.. Med Decis Making 26: 624-632 [Abstract]