A tool for reliable self-home blood pressure monitoring designed according to the European Society of Hypertension recommendations: the Microlife WatchBP Home monitor.

BACKGROUND: Self-blood pressure monitoring by patients at home (HBPM) is being increasingly used in clinical practice and has been endorsed by hypertension societies as an important adjunct to the conventional office blood pressure measurements. Several problems, however, exist regarding the application of HBPM in practice, such as device inaccuracy, observer bias and misreporting, variable monitoring schedule and variable method for summarizing measurements. The European Society of Hypertension Working Group (ESH-WG) on Blood Pressure Monitoring has published detailed recommendations on how to apply HBPM in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: The Microlife WatchBP Home monitor is designed to provide reliable and unbiased self-blood pressure monitoring by patients at home, strictly according to the ESH-WG recommendations.

DESIGN: Dual-function automated oscillometric monitor for HBPM in the arm, with memory, PC link capacity and embedded monitoring schedule. The device has a Usual mode for casual HBPM and a Diag (diagnostic) mode for HBPM strictly according to the ESH-WG proposed schedule (duplicate morning and evening measurements for 7 days). Readings are averaged by the device after exclusion of the initial day according to ESH-WG recommendations and can be transferred to PC for storing or printing. A pilot study in hypertensive patients with previous experience in HBPM suggested that the device is user-friendly and well accepted.

CONCLUSION: The Microlife WatchBP Home monitor is a novel device that provides a reliable and unbiased assessment of home blood pressure strictly according to the ESH recommendations.