Influence of repeated measurement on one occasion, on successive days, and on workdays on home blood pressure values.

Few reports provide clear guidelines on how home blood pressure (HBP) should be measured in practice. In this study, we evaluated the influence of repeated HBP measurements on one occasion, and the difference between the 1st and 2nd day and between workdays and nonworkdays. The subjects (468 male, 232 female; mean age 41 years) were recruited from one company. HBP was measured with a semiautomatic device (Omron HEM-759P). Subjects were instructed to perform triplicate morning (m) and evening (e) measurements on 7 consecutive days. HBP tended to decrease during repeated measurements: systolic blood pressure (SBP) was significantly higher the 1st time than the 2nd time and 3rd time. There was no difference in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between the 1st and 2nd time, but the value the 3rd time was significantly lower than the 1st and 2nd time. Both mHBP and eHBP on the 1st day were significantly higher than those on the 2nd day. mHBP was higher on the 1st workday than on nonworkdays, but the difference was less than 1 mmHg and there was no significant difference. Since there were significant differences in HBP during repeated measurements and between the 1st and 2nd day, which value to adopt as HBP needs to be discussed. Whether HBP was measured on a workday or a nonworkday seemed to have little influence on the HBP values obtained.