REPRODUCIBILITY OF HOME BLOOD-PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS OVER A 1-YEAR PERIOD

We compared the reproducibility over time of blood pressure measured a t the health examinations (screening blood pressure) and blood pressur e measured at home (home blood pressure). Both screening and home bloo d pressure were measured in subjects of a rural community. Subjects me asured their own blood pressure at home once in the morning using a se miautomatic oscillometric blood pressure measuring device at least thr ee times (on at least 3 days) in each of two 4-week periods separated by one year. Similarly, two screening blood pressure measurements were obtained from the subjects at each of two health examinations also ta ken 1 year apart. A total of 136 untreated subjects without cardiovasc ular complications (40 men and 96 women, 56 +/- 11.7 years, mean +/- S D) were analyzed in the study. The correlations between the first and second blood pressure measurements of the subjects were significantly higher for the home blood pressure measurements (systolic: r = 0.844 a nd diastolic: r = 0.830) than for the screening blood pressure measure ments (systolic: r = 0.692 and diastolic: r = 0.570). The mean differe nces between the first and second home blood pressure (0.8 +/- 7.7 mm Hg for systolic BP and 0.9 +/- 5.5 mm Hg for diastolic BP) were signif icantly smaller than those for the screening blood pressure (-3.9 +/- 13.8 for systolic BP and -3.1 +/- 10.2 for diastolic BP) (P < .001 for both comparisons), suggesting that the reproducibility of home blood pressure over time is superior to that of screening blood pressure. Su ch reliable blood pressure measurements obtained at home have a clinic al significance for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and as a tool for evaluating the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs. Home bl ood pressure measurements also may be more useful than screening blood pressure measurements in predicting future cardiovascular events. (C) 1997 American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd.