Comparison and correlation between self-measured blood pressure, casual blood pressure measurement and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

BACKGROUND: Casual blood pressure (BP) measurement by healthcare professionals is subject to great variability and new methods are necessary to overcome this limitation. OBJECTIVE: To compare and assess the correlation between the BP levels obtained by self-measured BP (SMBP), casual BP measurement and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). METHODS: We assessed hypertensive individuals submitted to the three methods of BP measurement at an interval 0.05) and different from the casual measurement (p < 0.05). At the analysis of correlation, SMBP values were higher than the casual measurements, considering ABPM as the reference standard in BP measurements. CONCLUSION: SMBP showed a better correlation with ABPM than the casual measurement and was also better correlated with the latter, especially regarding the DBP and should be considered as a low-cost alternative for the follow-up of the hypertensive patient.