Self-measurement of blood pressure at home is one of the important means to know the true level of blood pressure in hypertensive patients, and its importance is no less than that measured by doctors in the hospital. Because our blood pressure fluctuates all the time, it can fluctuate up and down by 20-40 mmHg every day, and the fluctuation range is even greater in the elderly. Therefore, it is difficult to measure blood pressure in the hospital only once in a while to reflect the true level of blood pressure.Another important reason is the "white coat phenomenon" also known as "consulting room hypertension". Some people do not feel the inner tension themselves, but the blood pressure in the hospital is always higher than the actual blood pressure.
Therefore, it is even more important to measure blood pressure yourself in the home environment. There is also a condition in which a patient has normal blood pressure when measured in the hospital, but has significantly higher blood pressure at night, a condition known as "masked hypertension" or "nocturnal hypertension."
People with this type of high blood pressure can easily be missed if they don't measure it themselves at home. For these reasons, patients should be encouraged to measure their blood pressure at home.
To ensure the accuracy of self-measured blood pressure, patients should pay attention to the following:
1. Purchase a nationally certified blood pressure monitor that meets measurement standards.Buy an upper arm Blood pressure monitor instead of a wrist one, which is prone to errors;
2. Before use, the doctor should instruct the patient on the correct measurement method to avoid errors caused by improper measurement methods;
3. In the initial stage of drug treatment or in the process of adjusting antihypertensive drugs, it is advisable to measure 2-3 times a day (for example, once in the morning and once in the evening or once in the morning, noon and night);Too frequent self-measurement of blood pressure can easily affect the measurement accuracy. Patients with stable disease and fixed treatment plan can be measured 1-2 days a week, once a day in the morning and evening;
4. Prepare a special record book to record each measurement result (including pulse rate) in detail for the reference of the doctor. Bringing the self-measured blood pressure record when visiting a doctor not only helps the doctor to fully understand the blood pressure fluctuation of the patient, but also shortens the time required for the doctor to ask the clinic.
