Which Strategies Are Best for Measuring BP and Diagnosing Hypertension?

Hypertension management decisions generally are based on blood pressure (BP) measurements obtained in the clinic. Recent studies have clarified approaches to measuring BP and diagnosing hypertension.

How many BP measurements should be made before hypertension is diagnosed? In a Veterans Affairs study, researchers compared three methods of BP measurement (outpatient clinic, home electronic device, and standardized research measurements) and showed that, regardless of method, averaging multiple BP measurements lowered within-patient variability; for diagnosing hypertension, a minimum of five or six measurements is necessary (JW Gen Med Jul 12 2011).

How accurate are manual BP measurements? In a study of manual BP measurement and automated elect…