Limited reproducibility of 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

Abstract

Results of 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) including average blood pressure, variability, and nocturnal dipping are considered the gold standard for diagnosis and the best predictor of the future end organ damage in chronic hypertension. Here we report on the reproducibility of ABPM results for these three measures over a period of months. A total of 35 hypertensive patients (43% female, mean age 64 years), underwent two separate ABPM recordings within 14 weeks, with unchanged medical treatment and lifestyle in the interim. The day and night average blood pressure, dipping status of systolic pressure, and the standard deviation of systolic and diastolic blood pressure as a measure of variability were compared between the two recordings. Individual values for average systolic and diastolic pressures showed only a modest correlation between the two measurements (r?=?0.56, r?=?0.81, p?r?=?0.4, p?