Prior rest improves blood pressure measurement

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Before patients' blood pressure is measured in a doctor's office, having them seated and at rest for at least 10 minutes appears to give more reliable results, Italian researchers report in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Dr. Carla Sala and colleagues at the University of Milan note that guidelines for an optimal rest before blood pressure readings vary, with some recommending a few minutes, others 5 minutes at least, or in some cases, 5 minutes at most.

To investigate further, the researchers studied 55 untreated patients with high blood pressure. The team took a variety of measurements over a 16-minute period when patients were seated in a chair.

The upper reading of blood pressure fell by 11.6 points and the lower reading fell by 4.3 points, the team found.

Because 75 percent of the drop occurred in the first 10 minutes of being seated, Sala and colleagues conclude that resting for this amount of time "could improve the precision and accuracy of the measurement."

SOURCE: American Journal of Hypertension, July 2006.