capricorn asked:
I bought a digital blood pressure apparatus for my mom , but someone told us that its results can be erronous . the best one to use is that old fashioned mercury one in which you manually pump air into the arm band and then hear for the beat with the help of a stethoscope.
to make sure i checked my mom’s blood pressure with the digital instrument first and then went to the local dispensary to have it checked again with the manual one . sure enough there was a difference of 10-15 units between the two . the digital one showed the lower reading .
my mom is convinced the manual one is correct and digital faulty . is she right?
I bought a digital blood pressure apparatus for my mom , but someone told us that its results can be erronous . the best one to use is that old fashioned mercury one in which you manually pump air into the arm band and then hear for the beat with the help of a stethoscope.
to make sure i checked my mom’s blood pressure with the digital instrument first and then went to the local dispensary to have it checked again with the manual one . sure enough there was a difference of 10-15 units between the two . the digital one showed the lower reading .
my mom is convinced the manual one is correct and digital faulty . is she right?
Blood pressure can change from minute to minute because of stress. The point is to take it in your home under ideal conditions where stress isnt an issue. Dont you think the trip could have influenced the results? I know that my blood pressure is always higher at the doctors office than it is at home.
Actually the blood pressure monitors that you find in pharmacies are often inaccurate. You just don’t know how often it gets calibrated.
Also, the trip there would naturally entail exertion of some degree which will increase blood pressure.
The best way to check your home monitor is to take it to her doctor the next time she visits and take a reading with it just before or after the doctor.
For more on blood pressure and how to best take the readings visit
There is also a handy BP log you can download from there to record the readings over a period of time… this is the best way to know your BP.
The standard mercury sphygmomanometer is likely to be accurate because there are few components which can fail. Other types of apparatus should be calibrated against a mercury type frequently. This is also one of the reasons why still blood pressure is mentioned in mm Hg rather than in other SI units. Automated digital recordings are useful for home monitoring and in an ICU when trained personnel are not available for using mercury based apparatus. Any doubtful value has to be promptly counterchecked by mercury sphygmomanometer.