Replacing manual sphygmomanometers with automated blood pressure measurement in routine clinical practice

Abstract

1. Conventional manual measurement of blood pressure (BP) in clinical practice is no longer considered to be the best method for evaluating a patient's BP status. Home BP and 24 h ambulatory BP monitoring are now recommended for the diagnosis and management of hypertension. 2. Recent studies provide an alternative to conventional office BP, namely automated office (AO) BP, which involves multiple BP readings taken with a fully automated device with the patient resting quietly alone. Automated office BP is preferable to routine manual office BP in that it exhibits improved accuracy and a stronger relationship to both ambulatory BP and target organ damage. 3. Having the patient alone eliminates conversation between the patient and the observer, a cause of 'white coat hypertension'. The use of an automated device improves accuracy, reduces digit preference, minimizes observer bias and facilitates the recording of multiple BP readings. 4. Comparative BP data obtained in clinical studies in both research settings and routine community practice support the use of a cut-off point of 135/85 mmHg for defining hypertension using AOBP, which is the same cut-off point currently recommended for awake ambulatory BP and home BP. 5. Reduction of the white coat response using AOBP should reduce the need to monitor patients with ambulatory BP and home BP after initiation of antihypertensive therapy. There is now sufficient evidence to consider replacing manual office BP with AOBP in routine clinical practice.

Keywords: automated blood pressure measurement; hypertension diagnosis; white coat hypertension.