Teaching home monitoring of blood pressure to adolescents.

A videotape and lecture method for teaching the self-measurement of blood pressure were compared in twenty, 13- 18-year-old adolescents. The time of instruction and evaluation were monitored in order to assess acquisition of skills and cost-effectiveness. Both methods of instruction were equal in respect to acquisition of skills. The videotape method of instruction was more cost-effective than the lecture method in populations of more than 23.9 patients per year, as long as videotape equipment was already available. If the equipment needed to be purchased, the videotape method became more cost-effective with populations of greater than 93.6 patients per year. It was concluded that health care teams should consider the videotape method as a cost-effective means of instruction when videotape equipment is available. In addition, a health care team which evaluates and follows a substantial number of patients per year for hypertension could realize considerable savings in the use of the newer media.