The present situation of home blood pressure measurement among outpatients in Japan

ABSTRACTObjective: To clarify the present situation of home blood pressure (HBP) measurement among Japanese patients.Methods: A nationwide questionnaire survey regarding HBP measurement was conducted on patients aged 20 years or older who had visited 20 community pharmacies to have their prescriptions filled.Results: In total, 76.7% of 1,103 hypertensives and 40.9% of 1,106 normotensives had their own devices for HBP measurement. Compared with normotensives, a higher proportion of hypertensives recognized the guideline-based reference values for HBP and clinic BP. Compared with hypertensives who did not have a physician’s recommendation, those who did more often had their own devices, recognized the guideline-based reference values for HBP, and measured HBP every day (70.4%, 1.5%, and 31.6% vs. 91.1%, 6.9%, and 65.4%, respectively). Among 793 hypertensives who measured HBP, a higher proportion of those with a physician’s recommendation measured HBP according to optimal guideline-based procedures compared ...