State of the market for devices for blood pressure measurement.

There is a large market for blood pressure measuring devices, not only in clinical medicine, but also with the public where the demand for self-measurement of blood pressure is growing rapidly. For the consumer, whether medical or lay, device accuracy should be of prime importance in selecting a blood pressure measuring device. However, the majority of devices available have not been evaluated independently for accuracy. In this paper the published evidence for independent validation is reviewed and it is recommended that such reviews should be undertaken regularly by international bodies, such as the European Society of Hypertension.