“You are more likely to get an accurate blood pressure reading at home than at the doctor’s office,” said Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday in a communiqué.
“Home measurement gives a more accurate picture of anindividual’s blood pressure than reading in a medical setting,” said DAKpresident Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
“Your blood pressure is higher when it is taken in a medicalsetting than it is when taken at home,” he said.
“This is because of white-coat effect which happens as youare nervous about having your blood pressure checked by a doctor,” he added.
DAK President said up to 50% patients with high office bloodpressure readings have normal readings in their homes.
“Home monitoringreduces the need for clinic visits and involves people more in their care whichcan bolster their efforts to make behavior changes and take their medication,”he said adding that “readings taken at home provide a better sense of how well amedication or other blood pressure lowering strategy is working.”
“Under new guidelinesanyone with blood pressure higher than130/80 is considered to have hypertensionor high blood pressure. The new norms recommend home blood pressure monitoringwhich provides a more reliable assessment of actual blood pressure than officeblood pressure,” said Dr Nisar.