Q: What’s your opinion on home blood pressure monitors. Are they accurate?
A: Used properly, home blood pressure monitors are accurate. Like any piece of equipment, some models are nicer than others. Subscribers might want to read which models Consumer reports like the best here at ConsumerReports.org.
Further Reading:
Get the most out of home blood pressure monitoring – MayoClinic.com
Accuracy of Home Blood Pressure Machines – LiveStrong.com
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For me the bp readings that I do at home are just indicative and they are useful even if the machine used for this purpose is not one hundred per cent accurate. In fact, it is a bit annoying when people repeatedly ask this question whether home readings are accurate or not.
Well–EXCUSE ME!
If you find a simple thing like that annoying, it would not be surprising to hear that you have a blood pressure problem.
They aren’t acurate Notin any way Only the doc’s on the wall is accurate
I own a Omron ReliOn model6021 rel i paid $39 for it at Walmart my Doctor told me the wrist bloodpressure monitors was no good .i considered it , then decided to check it at the doctors office .it read the same identical thing the arm monitor read to the t. I told her she ignored it ,the same people that made the one in the doctors office made the wrist monitor.its easy to write prescriptions what about closely monitoring .We trust our doctors and we should they owe it to us to listen to us. I got high reading at her office but it’s always normal away from there. Some say they aren’t accurate it could be user error . I believed I had white coat hypertension because it’s always about 118/79 to 120/79 at home.
I was given a wrist type unit and if I followed those readings, I would be dead now. It constantly showed my bp to be low….even when my doctor’s readings were showing the opposite.
My doctor told me to throw my wrist unit away; says they are NOT accurate at all.
I have one of the more expensive wrist monitors, had arm model previously. Do not see any discrepancies between the two in my readings.
Wrist type is the worst as slight difference in position of arm gives you huge difference in reading.
Use it like the directions say put arm across you heart feet flat on floor ,with no electronics or cell phones near.
I have an irregular pulse and Bp monitor shows very low pulse rates and on ocassion a pulse error. Why is this so? Does a pulse error or low pulse rate compromise the BP readings?
Please do not publish my email
If you take your monitor in and get it calibrated at your doctor’s office, you can be assured that it is working properly and accurate.
And what will that cost ? It costs me $40 to get a prescription written unless at an appointment which takes 2 or 3 weeks to get.And I just had er open heart surgery.
HaHaHa! I like that one! Take it to a Dr.’s office and let them calibrate it!!! They will laugh you out of the building. Plus, they are not accurate with their own readings? Literature backs it up. The Docs office is NOT the best place to have your pressure taken.
Actually they did NOT laugh me out of the building, and my monitor was pretty accurately calibrated. So, ha ha ha to you, Speak for yourself only, please! But I do agree that the doctor office is not the best place to take your bp, that is why I got a good monitor and do it at home and keep an ongoing record. I take that record in whenever I am going to the doctor’s office.
Over many years I have used, and still have both types [uppr arm and wrist]. I have 2 old upper arm types, and two wrist type. I broke my first wrist type by dropping it on a hard tile on concrete slab floor.
I have always PERIODICALLY COMPARED measurements and while never precisely the same reading, they have always been within less than 10mm of each other.
Also,even before the Mayo Clinic method became public knowledge, I have used that technique [take 3 measurements, toss the first, and average the second and third], and I also take my readings twice a day [on rising in the morning, and just before bed at night
Also, I do the same on both wrists as I’ve always gotten different readings from right and left side.
OK, I’m not obsessed, but just always eager for knowlege, and my method shows an overall average which can be compared from day to day].
I purchased an Omron IA2 and the A & D came with ‘Resperate’. Sometimes they show the same results, sometimes the readings are <10mm within each other. I really don't know which readings are right.
I had BP taken when laying in my underwear only and shivering on an examination table in a cold surgery while the specialist answered a lengthy phone call. The reading when he finally got to me was 150/90. He exclaimed "You have high blood pressure!" Other doctors have taken BP over long-sleeved shirts "No need to roll up your sleeve!", and after I had drunk a bottle of water due to the long wait in the surgery, or while discussing why I was visiting the doctor.
I took the Omron once to the clinic for "calibration" and the doctor's reading then was about 10mm lower than my monitor. Later, a nurse told me that when the monitor is not used regularly and after a long break that the pump needs to be primed and the first reading may be high and not an accurate reading. I never met a doctor who actually takes readings as recommended by the Mayo Clinic. Despite having to list my activities during 24-hour monitoring the highest reading (during driving in heavy traffic) was recorded as benchmark and it was decided that I have high blood pressure.
I think the reason we all respond to forums such as this one is because of the uncertainty surrounding blood pressure monitoring and blood pressure medication. Hope that one day somebody will get it right.
Before they came out with these wrist blood presure monitors, everyone went to there doctors. And thats where they better go now. Because even if they give them away i wouldnt use one. And im no doctor, just a common sense want to live man! I used them for years, until i brougt them to the best doctors in Boston. And the three i owned were so far off, i did damage to my heart! These doctors i have, work on the red sox players, and celtics, so they know what there talking about, so do your home work, so you dont suffer, like i have!
So when we gonna have a more trustworthy monitor? What do we recommend that will stand the text of time? I think we all should go with the Mayo rule. Average the 2nd and 3rd reading.
My Seinex-7000 monitor has proved very reliable with readings over the last 5 years. My doctor has done comparison readings & I am happy with the accuracy. However you can become obsessed with the monitor & use above recommended times.
My BP is now considerably lower than in the past 10 years due to removal of a high stress place of work.
Medication is not always the answer! Find the root cause & do not treat the symptoms!!
usually read your questions and answers. these are useful especilly to know that there other people who think like me.
To know the accurate BP of the person, take 3 continuous readings and the average of the 3 readings can be taken as their BP. Take the bp reading at same time, everyday.
I agree with John Reading. The doctor’s office is one of the worst places to have your blood pressure taken. First, there is often not enough rest between hussling you back to the exam room and taking your blood pressure.
The Mayo Clinic advises taking 3 readings at least five minutes apart, then throwing out the first reading, and averaging the last two. The first reading is the least indicative of your true blood pressure, yet it is the only reading the doctor’s office takes and relies upon!
Whenever you see the nurse taking your blood pressure, then re-pumping some air back into the device to get a reading, throw that one in the trash. The re-pump violates the accuracy of the first reading.
In sum, take your readings at home per the Mayo Clinic protocol. You are far more accurate than the average doctor’s office reading. I like the blood pressure machine which has MAM technonology, and automatically takes and averages 3 readings.
All the best!
I have Arterial Fibrillation and have been informed that my condition can confuse the workings of battery powered BP testers and should not be relied upon for accuracy if you have this condition.
Please let me have your comments.
I have Atrial Fibrilation as well. That is a speedy heart rate from the atrium of the heart. This does not affect blood pressure readings at all….. unless you are in a fibrilation state at the time you take your BP… which probably is not the case. My home machine works just fine. And I feel is more accurate than the doctor’s office sometimes. After all, when taken by the nurse or doctor it is determined by what they hear at a certain point on the guage. That is always subjective.
I use an arm bp machine at home and compare it to taking my bp on machines available for public use at WalMart and malls. It has always been reasonably close. I was going to get a second machine to be sure my readings are accurate, but after the local WalMart put a machine in I deceided to just use that.