Home blood pressure monitoring in diabetes.

Forty three children with diabetes were recruited to evaluate home blood pressure monitoring using an electronic oscillometric sphygmomanometer (Philips HP5330). This device was found to be simple to use and reliable. It fulfilled the accuracy criteria of the American Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and those of the British Hypertension Society for systolic blood pressure. Thirty eight children successfully measured their own blood pressure at home and taught other family members to do the same. The results indicate that home blood pressure monitoring is of value in the management of diabetic children.