title: How do we measure blood pressure at home?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is one of the measures that increases compliance with antihypertensive therapy. HBPM requires a proper measurement technique as well as an accurate sphygmomanometer. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of home sphygmomanometers (HS) in a big city in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the HS of hypertensive patients (n = 452; male: 253, female: 199) who were examined for the first time in our outpatient center. General evaluation of HS included trademark, model, device's age, cuff size, validation and calibration status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We interviewed 452 patients and 452 HS were identified. The most common factors affecting the patients' choice for the type and model of the HS were its simplicity and ease of use (28.2%), followed by advertisements (44%), physician's advice (19.3%) and the belief in accurate measurement (< 1%). All patients were unaware of validation and calibration of their devices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness of both patients and physicians about the validation status of HS is not enough. Some complaints from patients may be associated with using non-validated HS. There is a need for a policy or standard criteria for HS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, School of Medicine, Mersin University , Mersin , Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bardak
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turgutalp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Özcan
authors.forename: Z E
authors.initials: ZE
authors.lastname: Eser
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gözükara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiykim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015924:Blood Pressure Monitors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Blood pressure; home sphygmomanometer; hypertension; validation