Validation of three devices for home blood pressure measurement

In recent years accurate automated devices for measuring blood pressure have been manufactured but these have been restricted to expensive and sophisticated systems, such as devices used for ambulatory blood pressure measurement and in critical care units. Inexpensive devices for measuring blood pressure, for example in the home, which might also have a wider application in clinical practice, have generally proved to be unacceptably inaccurate. In this study, three popular devices for home-measurement of blood pressure were validated according to the revised protocol of the British Hypertension Society (BHS), each in 85 subjects. The results were also analysed according to the criteria for accuracy of the revised standard of Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The Omron HEM-705CP was the most accurate of the three devices tested, achieving Grade grade A for diastolic and Grade B for systolic pressure, as well as fulfilling the AAMI criteria for accuracy for both systolic and diastolic pressure. It can be recommended, therefore, for the clinical measurement of blood pressure and is the first inexpensive device to satisfy the accuracy criteria of these protocols. The notable feature of this device are: it is accurate; it measures pressure oscillometrically; it is inexpensive; it provides a print-out of recorded pressures and it is portable. These features permit a broad application in clinical medicine.