Development of diagnostic thresholds for automated self-measurement of blood pressure in adults

Blood pressure is usually measured by conventional sphygmomanometry, a proc edure fraught with many potential sources of error, Automated techniques of measurement, such as ambulatory monitoring and self-measurement, reduce th e limitations of conventional sphygmomanometry, However, the diagnostic thr esholds applicable for conventional sphygmomanometry cannot be extrapolated to automated measurements. During the past 10 years criteria for normality have gradually been developed for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Fi rst, the distributions of the ambulatory blood pressure in normotensive sub jects and in untreated hypertensive patients who had initially been classif ied on the basis of their conventional blood pressure were studied, Second, epidemiological studies were performed to investigate the distribution of the conventional and ambulatory blood pressures in the population at large. Third, authors of several studies have now validated the preliminary thres holds for ambulatory monitoring against left ventricular hypertrophy, other signs of target-organ damage and the incidence of cardiovascular complicat ions. Finally, authors of clinical trials investigated whether it is benefi cial to patients and cost-effective to diagnose and treat hypertension on t he basis of ambulatory monitoring rather than under the sole guidance of co nventional sphygmomanometry, For systolic/diastolic measurements, the upper limits of normotension include 130/80, 135/85 and 120/70 mmHg for the 24 h , daytime and night-time blood pressures, respectively, Whereas for ambulat ory monitoring a large body of evidence currently supports the proposed dia gnostic thresholds, for the self-recorded blood pressure, to a large extent , this evidence must still be collected. In pursuing this goal, the methods applied for ambulatory monitoring may serve as a template. On the basis of a meta-analysis of summary statistics of published articles and a meta-ana lysis of data from individual subjects, 135/85 mmHg is likely to be the upp er limit of normality for the self-measured blood pressure. Obviously, this threshold is preliminary and must be further validated in prognostic studi es. However, the present proposal could guide clinicians who wish to use se lf-measurement to refine the diagnosis and the management of hypertension b ased on conventional sphygmomanometry, (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilki ns.