Experts recommend checking and monitoring your blood pressure at home.
Why?
Have you heard of the “white-coat syndrome”?
Yes, the place matters; when we measure blood pressure at a healthcare centre, the reading is likely to be higher than the actual reading. This is called “white-coat syndrome”.
Regular checking blood pressure is very important; that is why the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association issued a joint statement regarding this.
It says,
“Self-measured BP monitoring has a high potential for improving the diagnosis and management of hypertension in the United States”.
Self-measured blood pressure monitoring improves the management of hypertension.
The joint statement from the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association; THE JOURNAL OF CIRCULATION; 22 JUNE 2020
How to measure blood pressure accurately at home
You can follow this free online course to learn how to measure your blood pressure accurately. This course was developed by the Pan American Health Organisation joined by the World Hypertension League, the Lancet Commission on Hypertension Group and Hypertension Canada, and Resolve to Save Lives, academically developed by a group of highly qualified experts recognised worldwide.
According to Dr Norm Campbell, the Emeritus Professor at the University of Calgary, it is recommended to retrain all healthcare professionals on how to measure blood pressure every six months. This is based on evidence that up to 50 per cent of readings are potentially misclassified as either high blood pressure or normal blood pressure.
Five steps that we should follow while measuring blood pressure
- Select a validated automated or semi-automated device
- Select the right cuff size for the person being measured; it comes in three sizes: small, medium, and large.
- Prepare the person being measured; e.g. pain, anxiety, and stress elevate the normal blood pressure temporarily. Smoking, chewing tobacco, tea, and coffee also elevate blood pressure, and it will come back to normal after 30 minutes of stopping those.
- Measure the blood pressure: Sit comfortably 5 minutes immediately before the measurement. Both – who measures and who is being measured should not be talking. The environment should not be too cold or too hot for the person being measured. Should be seated with back support and the arm should be bare. The cuff should be at the level of the heart. The legs should not be crossed. The feet should be flat on the floor. The cuff should not be too tight or too loose. A couple of fingers should be able to fit between the cuff and arm. Measure blood pressure: If this is the first time, repeat the measurement on the other arm. If one arm’s reading is higher, wait one minute, and repeat it on the same arm. Wait another one minute; get the third reading. The higher reading should be used as the correct one. If the first reading is higher than the next second and third readings, the first reading should be discarded, and the other two readings should be averaged.
- Record the readings: The final two readings, arm, cuff size, heart rate, age, gender, date, and the use of any anti-high blood pressure medications