| The objective for this study is to compare self-measurement of blood pressure (BP) at home and office BP measurements in hypertensive patients with type (II) diabetes mellitus to determine whether home readings can be used by health care providers to make treatment decisions. Over a period of 2 to 3 weeks, 21 patients attending the hypertension clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital had 3 clinic, 20 or more home and one ambulatory BP measurements. The mean systolic BP at home was 1.2 mm Hg lower than that at the office, although the difference was not significant (F = 1.09, P = 0.35). On the other hand, the mean home diastolic BP was 7 mm Hg higher, and the difference was highly significant (F = 9.6, P = 0.0004). It was concluded that self-measurement of BP at home is feasible and acceptable and provides valuable information that may be used in making treatment decisions. |
