Health
Home blood pressure monitoring improves control
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 28, 2004
Hypertensive patients who keep track of their blood pressure at home have better control of their condition than those monitored only in the health care system, according to a paper published online in the British Medical Journal and presented at the European Society of Hypertension in Paris earlier this month.
Researchers at St. Georges Hospital Medical School, London, performed a meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 3,000 patients. Home-monitored patients achieved an average reduction of 4.2 mm Hg in their systolic and 2.4 mm Hg of their diastolic when compared to those only tracked in a clinic.
Authors of the paper conceded that the differences were small but could be clinically significant and argued in favor of allowing patients to monitor their own blood pressure.
"This may represent an adjunctive useful improvement in management of hypertension likely to contribute to a better outlook for cardiovascular events," wrote the authors.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/06/28/hlbf0628.htm.
