Question posed by Darren Wriggley: How can I be sure of blood pressure readings?
On my last visit to my GP a nurse took my blood pressure readings using a pump up machine and a stethoscope. Surely this method allows human error – poor hearing or distraction added to which it was actually uncomfortable indeed painful. Should I trust these measurements? I read here http://www.blood-pressure-monitoring.org/blood-pressure-monitors.htm that modern blood pressure monitors are better so why would a surgery still use old fashioned methods?
The No 1 answer:
Answer by Carl S
The machines you find in drug stores “drift” over time. They are very accurate out of the box but over time they have errors as well. When they are calibrated they are as good as new, but its expensive and not regulated by the FDA (food a drug aministration) so stores dont need to calibrate them regularly. But I guess in a hospital they would pay closer attention to that.
Im sure it all comes down to cost. It’s $ 300 for a stethoscope and takes a nurse 15mins to perform the test when they have to do tests anyway. It’s Well over $ 5000 for a machine that can only do 1 thing…
Also a person can tell if something is wrong. Human error is what +/-2%? If the machine malfunctions it wont know that your reading is off. The nurse will know if you are a smoker, overweight, etc and can make an evaluation of your health before even taking the sample. In short, I’ll take the nurse any day.
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Here’s what happened one time when I had my blood pressure read. When the nurse told me the numbers, I asked her to try again since with those numbers I would either have to be dead or in a coma! She took it again on the other arm, and the numbers came up, but I still think she didn’t know how to read it correctly.
To answer your question, I don’t think you can always trust these readings. Also, your blood pressure can go up and down significantly within a few moments, so it’s important not to place too much trust in any one isolated reading. The best thing is to have a healthy lifestyle.
As someone who has problems with blood pressure, believe me i would prefer my surgery to use the ‘old fashioned’ method anytime. I personally don’t have much regard for the digital ones as every single time I go to get it checked, they always do it twice and there is usually quite a differnece with the readings and it can be different from arm to arm.Older generation GP’s tend to stick to the original, wish mine did.
Someone taking it from hand is a better reading than a machine. You have to pump up the arm till you hear your 1st heartbeat then when you start letting the air out when you stop hearing a heartbeat is the second reading. Distracted or not it’s pretty easy to hear both those sounds. I can tell when I have my blood pressure checked when my heartbeat stops and starts even without the stethoscope.
I’d trust the manual B/P measurements more than the digital. The digital can read quite differently from one reading to the next, maybe 15-20 points. The size of the cuff, last calibration, and placement can all affect the readings. There are benefits to the digital, but I’d be writing awhile. If your getting your B/P measured over time, stick to a person instead of a machine. I’d trust my ears and eyes over what a machine tells me every single time, even with 3 screaming kids right by the patient.