Are digital blood pressure moniters accurate?

I just bought one but and have checked 3 times and got a different reading each time :confused:

First one was 97 over 60, then 96 over 63, then 95 over 59. Last time I checked on a different moniter (where you pump the cuff up) I got 115 over 85. How accurate are they does anyone know?

Thanks

Reply 1

Fluffy

15

Not meaning to be patronising, but are you sure you're using it correctly. Making sure you are properly at rest - i.e. sit down for a good 20 minutes doing nothing before taking a reading

They are notoriously unreliable, but used for ease. You need to make sure you have it serviced and calibrated against a mercury sphyg at least once a year...

Reply 2

Lib

10

Whenever I get a high reading the nurse usually gets one of the manual versions out for a more accurate reading, so I guess they're not so hot. But then those three readings don't look that far apart, so...

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

OP

Fluffy

Not meaning to be patronising, but are you sure you're using it correctly. Making sure you are properly at rest - i.e. sit down for a good 20 minutes doing nothing before taking a reading

They are notoriously unreliable, but used for ease. You need to make sure you have it serviced and calibrated against a mercury sphyg at least once a year...

well I paid £49 for it got it from boots, had I might as well return it? Yea I read the instructions and sat down with my arm rested, just thers no point checking if they are unreliable lol.

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

I don't know how accurately you've taken those values but the range isn't that big. Make sure you are relaxed and sat down, preferably get someone else to inflate the cuff. How did you get the reading with a traditional sphygmomanometer - a doctor?

Reply 5

Fluffy

15

Anonymous

well I paid £49 for it got it from boots, had I might as well return it? Yea I read the instructions and sat down with my arm rested, just thers no point checking if they are unreliable lol.

And you have the cuff the right way round, the sensor in the right place etc...?

It's actually really difficult to do your own BP, even with an automated sphyg...

Reply 6

jpowell

15

Your blood pressure may well have fluctuated in between readings.

You should take an average of a couple of readings.

Reply 7

Anonymous #1

OP

Fluffy

And you have the cuff the right way round, the sensor in the right place etc...?

It's actually really difficult to do your own BP, even with an automated sphyg...

I think so, are they unreliable as in the reading is way out (as in 20 mmHg) or a few mm?

Reply 8

Anonymous #1

OP

Anonymous

I don't know how accurately you've taken those values but the range isn't that big. Make sure you are relaxed and sat down, preferably get someone else to inflate the cuff. How did you get the reading with a traditional sphygmomanometer - a doctor?

The cuff inflates on its own I just press a button and it tightens itself.

Reply 9

Fluffy

15

Anonymous

I think so, are they unreliable as in the reading is way out (as in 20 mmHg) or a few mm?

If the machine is poorly calibrated, by a lot...

Can you get someone else to take your BP (using it) for you?

Reply 10

frost105

14

My sil has one as she's pregnant and its fairly accurate.

Reply 11

groovy_moose

1

Do you have one that goes round the wrist, or the upper arm, bucause to make those types work properly you have to make sure that it is in exactly the right place, basically about level with your heart - either holding your arm there if it's round your wrist, or in the right place in the first place, if its round your upper arm.
The boots one's ought to be ok if you use them properly, but they aren't nearly as reliable as reading you get taken by the nurse, so use it as a guide certainly, but take it with a pinch of salt.

Reply 12

jennyflake

The official advice is do three, ignore the first, and then take the average of the second and third. The idea being it will drop as you calm down/are less nervous (i think!)

Reply 13

Helenia

20

Yeah, the three you took, seem reasonably close together, so the machine is obviously not totally screwed. It's the difference between them and the manual measurement that suggests it might not be calibrated properly.

Reply 14

jennyflake

Im presuming that when the manual measurement was taken someone else did it, obviously, and that the chances are it was a doctor. If thats the case its possible you have sufered from an increase in blood pressure due to the doctor. In which case the monitor was nearer to the real reading, than you would think! Just an idea!

Reply 15

IndieGirl

3

My bp always goes up when the nurse measures it...then they try to make out like I've got high blood pressure, but it's just becauseI'm nervous and I guarantee if I could check it on my own with no pressure (so to speak) it would be much lower! doh.

Reply 16

Fluffy

15

IndieGirl

My bp always goes up when the nurse measures it...then they try to make out like I've got high blood pressure, but it's just becauseI'm nervous and I guarantee if I could check it on my own with no pressure (so to speak) it would be much lower! doh.

White coat hypertension. Well known phenomenon, and I'm surprised that anyone tries to pin hypertension on you on this basis (unless it's pathologically high, of course...)

Reply 17

supreme

4

Anonymous

I just bought one but and have checked 3 times and got a different reading each time :confused:

First one was 97 over 60, then 96 over 63, then 95 over 59. Last time I checked on a different moniter (where you pump the cuff up) I got 115 over 85. How accurate are they does anyone know?

Thanks

No they inaccurate and unreliable, sometimes producing wrong results. Manual blood pressures produce accurate results every time if done correctly. However blood pressures do vary and as someone said above about white coat hypertension.

Reply 18

hannasmith22

i personally do not feel they are accurate at all, my mum uses one daily due to high blood pressure and everytime she gets a completely different reading. She has too machines and they both vary so much in the readings they give so im guessing they are not overly accurate

Are digital blood pressure moniters accurate?

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