Home Blood-Pressure Readings

Q: Each time I use my home digital blood-pressure monitor, the reading is different than my reading at the doctor's office. Is it because mine is digital and my doctor's is mercury?

A: Blood-pressure readings can be affected by many factors, including your environment, body position, medications, alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. Arm position is very important when using home arm monitors. Digital arm blood-pressure monitors, when placed in the correct position on the arm, are just as accurate as the mercury sphygmomanometers used in medical offices.
           
The American Heart Association's new recommendations for home monitoring are:

• Purchase monitors with cuffs that fit on the upper arm (either manual or automatic inflation). Wrist monitors are not recommended. Be sure to place the cuff 1/2 inch above the crease of your elbow.

• Take two or three readings at a time, one minute apart, while resting in a seated position. Your arm should be supported, with the upper arm at heart level, and your feet on the floor, with back supported and legs uncrossed.

Always wait 30 minutes after drinking alcohol or caffeine or using tobacco products before testing.

Take your blood-pressure monitor to your doctor to check it for accuracy at least once a year.

Jennifer H. Mieres, M.D., is director of nuclear cardiology and associate professor of clinical medicine at New York University. She’s also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.