[Accuracy and precision in blood pressure measurement. Comparative study of home self-measurement with measurement in the clinic and out-patient monitoring].

OBJECTIVE

To compare accuracy and precision of self-measurement blood pressure (SMBP) at home, as a diagnosis method of hypertension, with mercury measurement in office and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

DESIGN

A comparison study of diagnosis methods.Setting.Hypertension Unit in the Hospital General de Albacete.

PATIENTS

By means of a non-probabilistic sample, selected from consecutive cases that went to the unit, a 64 pharmacologically untreated hypertensive sample older than 18 has been selected.

METHODS

All subjects were taken 3 measurements with mercury from a validated nurse in office, and were also taught to make 20 self-measurements of blood pressure in the morning at the office and 20 self-measurements in the evening at home with an automatic device Omron 705-CP, during the same day they were set a Takeda TM-2420 device programmed to measure their blood pressure for 24 hours. All proceedings were repeated 4 weeks later. Mean blood pressure values have been compared with every diagnosis method and sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value have been studied in every method reproducibility in every method has been analyzed.

RESULTS

Subjects were 29 men and 35 women with a mean of 53 years old. The mean values of office blood pressure (OBP) have been higher than SMBP and ABPM in the two periods of the study. SMBP has had a higher specificity and predictive value than OBP. Reproducibility of repeated SMBP in standardized conditions is similar to ABPM.

CONCLUSIONS

With a minimum program self-measurements at home, in standardized conditions, they can be considered as an accurate technique in the diagnosis of hypertension.