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Home monitoring reduces medication cost

People who monitor their blood pressure at home use less blood pressure medication, according to a new study.

The Journal of Hypertension published the study titled Self-Measurement of Blood Pressure at Home Reduces the Need for Antihypertensive Drugs in it's December edition.

The study

Researchers randomly placed 430 patients on either home monitoring or office based monitoring over a period of a year. The blood pressure of the patients was assessed with a 24 hour monitor before and at the end of the trial.

The News report states, "It was found that the patients in the self-measured group used significantly less medication than those in the office-measured group. The average treatment costs in the self-measured group were also lower compared with those in the office-measured group."

Conclusion

The researchers found that people who self monitor their blood pressure use less medication without the loss of blood pressure control, compared to those who have their blood pressure taken in a physicians office.

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