Automated vs. Manual BP Monitoring for Systolic Hypertension

Office manual blood pressure (BP) monitoring is fraught with problems, including variable BP measuring skills among healthcare workers, “white-coat hypertension,” and digit preference (readings ending in “0”). In this trial, Canadian investigators randomized 67 primary care practices to use either ongoing manual office BP monitoring (control) or automated office BP monitoring using the BpTRU device (intervention; after the BpTRU cuff is positioned properly, the patient is left alone, and the device automatically takes five BP readings and displays an average). Awake ambulatory BP monitoring was the gold standard.

Overall, 555 patients with systolic hypertension participated in the study. Compared with manual office BP readings, automated off…