24 hour BP monitoring (Ambulatory BP)
24 hour BP monitoring (Ambulatory BP)
Also known as Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)
Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) is when your blood pressure is measured as you move around, living your normal daily life. It is measured for up to 24 hours. A small digital blood pressure monitor is attached to a belt around your waist and connected to a cuff around your upper arm. It is small enough not to affect your normal daily life and you can even sleep with it on.
What are the benefits?
By measuring your blood pressure at regular intervals up to 24 hours, your doctor is able to get a clear idea of how your blood pressure changes throughout the day. Also, because you are able to carry on with your normal routine, it avoids the problems of ‘white coat’ syndrome (where your blood pressure rises because you are feeling anxious about being tested by your doctor or nurse).
It is done to:
Establish a diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension).
To identify patients who have higher blood pressure readings when in the clinic (known as ‘white coat effect’)
To help decide if blood pressure medication is required
To help to decide whether any change to your medication is required
To further investigate people whose blood pressure is hard to control
To see how well a patient’s blood pressure medicines are controlling blood pressure throughout the day
To see what happens to a patient’s blood pressure at night.
Procedure
This type of blood pressure measurement is similar to your usual blood pressure measurement: an electronic monitor takes your blood pressure by inflating a cuff around your upper arm and then slowly releasing the pressure. Normally, the monitor is fitted at Pioneer Diagnostic Centre by health professional. It will be placed inside a protective cover and it is important that it remains in this for the duration of the monitoring. The machine then takes blood pressure readings at regular intervals throughout the day. Normally this is around every 15 minutes during the daytime and 60 minutes at night but may vary between different clinics.
If asked by your referring doctor you will need to keep the monitor on throughout the night. At the end of the monitoring period you can remove the machine and cuff and give it back to the Centre. The machine will have stored all your readings and these will then be analyzed.