How can ambulatory blood pressure monitoring help in the management of patients with uncontrolled or variable hypertension

The study aim was to compare clinic and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and to determine the influence of the latter on the management of a group of patients with variable or uncontrolled blood pressure. A retrospective data analysis was carried out on patients selected from out-patient clinics at New Cross Hospital. One hundred and seventy-one patients with uncontrolled or variable blood pressure underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and 153 results were analysed. Following ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, 56% of the patients had their treatment regimens either decreased, unaltered or did not require antihypertensive therapy. The study found 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring helps in the assessment of overall 24-hour blood pressure control of patients and may also help in the better management of difficult groups of patients.