Study says First BP Reading may not be Accurate

14-04-2019   |   Posted By: Admin   |   1668 View(s)

Conventionally and because of Time Constraints, the Blood Pressure is usually taken once by the Doctors and even at Home by those monitoring the Blood Pressure. However, according to a study that appeared in Nature’s Journal of Human Hypertension this Friday- it is always recommended to go in for at least 3 reading and take the median of readings as the first reading can indicate higher disease prevalence.

According to the study titled Impact of repeated blood Pressure Measurement on Blood Pressure found 63% higher prevalence of hypertension when only the first reading was considered for diagnosis in comparison to the mean of second and third readings. The information was analysed from BP Reading taken to generate Data for the National Family Health Survey NFHS-4, a Nationwide survey conducted in India in 2015-16. Although the consensus was that there should be multiple readings there are no clear cut guidelines on how many readings are good enough. Most people take just one but ideally, there should be at least three as usually, the first reading is always on the higher side because when a patient walks in -they are a bit anxious. The latter readings reflect a more accurate result as the patient settles down by then.

The above data were analysed for a period of over three months revised in March and accepted for publication on April 1, Researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and the Economics and Planning Unit of Indian Statistical Institute collaborated to analyse the data. The researchers believe that the findings will benefit both patients as well as the Health Care System