Fewer than half of older adults with BP conditions monitor themselves at home

Key takeaways

• A recent study found that only 47.9% of adults with a BP-related health condition or hypertension reported monitoring their BP at home.
• In addition, 61.6% said their clinician recommended they self-monitor their BP, an increase in reporting compared with previous data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Fewer than half of people aged 50 to 80 years who take BP medication or have a condition that’s affected by hypertension regularly check their BP at home, a recent study in JAMA Network Open found.

According to the CDC, 74.5% of U.S. adults aged 60 years or older had hypertension in 2017 to 2018. Despite guidelines recommending “that patients use self-measured blood pressure monitoring outside the clinic to diagnose and manage hypertension,” the prevalence and frequency of at-home monitoring in the U.S. has been unclear, Mellanie V. Springer, MD, MS, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School, and colleagues wrote.

The researchers analyzed data collected from the University of Michigan National Healthy Poll on Aging, which was conducted in January 2021. Survey responses were received from 1,247 individuals (mean age, 64.19 years) who had a BP-related health condition (BPCH) or hypertension, and 1,050 respondents who had hypertension only.

Springer and colleagues found that 47.9% (95% CI, 44.9-50.9) of respondents with hypertension or BPCH said that they regularly monitor their BP; that number rose to 51.2% (95% CI, 47.9-54.4) for respondents who only had hypertension.

Study results also showed that 61.6% (95% CI, 58.6-64.5) of adults with hypertension or a BPCH and 68.2% (95% CI, 65.0-71.2) of those with hypertension alone had a clinician recommend self-measured BP monitoring. These participants were 3.5 times more likely to self-measure than those who did not get such a recommendation, according to a press release related to the study.

The researchers reported that the study was limited due to the usage of self-reported data, the lack of information on a specific BP frequency and limited representation of historically underrepresented groups.
Compared with previous data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more respondents reported that a clinician recommended self-monitoring, which Springer and colleagues suggested could be due to a rise of telehealth.

Noting the benefits of at-home monitoring, including cost-effectiveness and an association with BP reductions, the researchers concluded the results “suggest that protocols should be developed to educate patients about the importance of [self-measured BP monitoring] and sharing readings with clinicians and the frequency that [self-measured BP monitoring] should be performed.”

References:

• Hypertension prevalence among adults aged 18 and over: United States, 2017–2018. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db364.htm#:~:text=The%20prevalence%20of%20hypertension%20increased,hypertension%20by%20age%20was%20observed. Accessed Sept. 26, 2022.
• More older adults should be checking blood pressure at home. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/965794. Accessed Sept. 26, 2022. Published Sept. 23, 2022.
• Springer M, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.31772.