Benefits of measuring BP at home

Self-measurement of blood pressure (BP) can help in improving the control of hypertension, preventing unnecessary drug treatment and associated costs. With the rise in the use of drugs and their associated costs in lowering high BP, it is becoming increasingly important that the patients of hypertension get proper diagnosis and the relevant treatment. It is said that in comparison to office and clinical measurements, self-measurement of blood pressure reduces the use of drugs to lower high BP and the costs associated with it. But it is still uncertain whether one can safely decide upon the treatment on the basis of self-measured BP. To examine the efficacy of self-measurement of BP, researchers at the University Hospital Maastricht, the Netherlands randomly assigned 430 hypertensive patients to receive treatment either based on self-measured BP or based on office-measured BP over the course of one year. BP was also measured by 24-hour monitoring at the start and end of the trial. The results showed no significant difference between the self-measured and the office-measured groups in BP values or changes indicating kidney or heart damage. It was found that the patients in the self-measured group used significantly less medication than those in the office-measured group. The average treatment costs in the self-measured group were also lower compared with those in the office-measured group. The 24-hour ambulatory BP values at the end of the trial were significantly higher in the self-measured group than in the office-measured group. Though the results support the use of self-measured BP as an addition to office measurements to improve the control of hypertension and prevent unnecessary drug treatment, it still remains to be seen if it is safe to treat high BP based on self-monitoring.