The NPHA team collaborated with study authors Deborah Levine, M.D., M.P.H., of the Department of Internal Medicine at Michigan Medicine, and Mellanie V. Springer, M.D., M.S., to construct the poll questions and evaluate the results.
A new study shows that just 48% of persons aged 50 to 80 who use blood pressure drugs or have a medical condition that is impacted by hypertension routinely check their blood pressure at home or in other locations. A slightly higher percentage, though still only 62%, claim that they were advised to undertake these examinations by a healthcare professional.
Three and a half times more survey participants who remembered receiving an advice to check their blood pressure at home than those who couldn’t recollect receiving one did so.
The results highlight the significance of examining the causes of at-risk patients’ failure to check their blood pressure and the reasons why healthcare professionals don’t advise them to do so — as well as developing strategies to encourage more people with these medical conditions to do so on a regular basis.
According to the authors of the study, this may be crucial in assisting patients to live longer and maintain their heart and brain health.
A team from Michigan Medicine, the academic medical centre of the University of Michigan, published the findings in JAMA Network Open.
The information builds on a report released the previous year and comes from the National Poll on Healthy Aging.
Adults between the ages of 50 and 80 were surveyed for the survey, which was conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation with funding from AARP and Michigan Medicine. Questions covered chronic health conditions, home blood pressure monitoring, and interactions with healthcare professionals regarding blood pressure. The information was gathered from 1,247 respondents who indicated that they were either taking medication to lower their blood pressure or had a chronic illness that required them to do so, such as a history of a stroke, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or hypertension.
Although others claimed they never use their blood pressure monitors, 55% of them admitted to having one. Only nearly half of those who do use it stated they communicate their readings with a healthcare professional, and there was substantial variance in how frequently they checked their blood pressure. But compared to those who don’t own a monitor, those who do were more than ten times as likely to check their blood pressure outside of medical facilities.
According to the scientists, blood pressure monitoring is both affordable and linked to lower blood pressure.
The findings, according to the authors, indicate that methods for educating patients on the value of self-blood pressure monitoring and communicating readings with doctors should be devised.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
