By Lilian Anekwe
Patients who monitor their own blood pressure at home have small, but significant, reductions in pressures when measured in surgery, according to a group of UK primary care researchers.
They carried out a systematic review of 25 randomised controlled trials of self-monitoring which either measure systolic and diastolic pressures taken in surgery, or the proportion of patients who achieved a blood pressure target.
Patients who self-monitored had on average blood pressures that were lower by 3.82mmHg systolic and 1.45mmHg diastolic compared to those who just had their pressures measured at routine visits.
Self-monitoring increased the chance of meeting a blood pressure target by 9%.
Study lead Professor Richard McManus, professor of primary care cardiovascular research at the University of Cambridge, said: 'Self-monitoring of blood pressure is an increasingly common part of hypertension management and this review shows it reduces blood pressure by a small, but significant, amount.'
The British Hypertension Society have a list of approved home monitors at different prices.
Annals of Medicine online 27 May
Self-monitored patients were found to have a lower blood pressure when it was measured in a GP surgery Self-monitored patients were found to have a lower blood pressure when it was measured in a GP surgery
