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Comparison of Two Home Blood Pressure Monitors with a Mercury Sphygmomanometer in an Ambulatory Population
Author(s) -
Johnson Kjel A.,
Partsch Deborah J.,
Gleason Patrick,
Makay Kelly
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1592/phco.19.4.333.30936
Subject(s) - blood pressure , sphygmomanometer , ambulatory blood pressure , medicine , crossover study , cardiology , ambulatory , diastole , mercury (programming language) , population , computer science , alternative medicine , environmental health , pathology , programming language , placebo
We performed a randomized, single‐visit, crossover study to compare the precision of a digital monitor and an aneroid monitor relative to a desktop mercury sphygmomanometer (DMS). Three blood pressure measurements per patient, one per device, were taken over 25 minutes. Of 99 patients, 95 had complete blood pressure data. Systolic blood pressures measured with the digital monitor were significantly different from those with the DMS (p<0.01). Thirty‐four percent of systolic and 48% of diastolic pressures measured with the digital monitor were within ± 5 mm Hg of the DMS. The aneroid monitor performed significantly better than the digital monitor, with 54% of systolic (p<0.01) and 58% of diastolic blood pressures within ± 5 mm Hg of the DMS standard. Health care providers are encouraged to supervise patients' initial use of a home blood pressure monitor and calibrate readings against a standard mercury sphygmomanometer.