According to a new study, only 48% of people aged 50 to 80 who take blood pressure medications regularly check their blood pressure at home. Some 62% say a health care provider encouraged them to do so. The likelihood of respondents checking their blood pressure at home was three and a half times higher for those whose providers recommended it.
There is a need to explore why at-risk patients do not check their blood pressure, and why providers don’t recommend them to check — and how to encourage more people to do so. According to the study’s authors, this could help patients live longer and maintain heart and brain health.
Home monitoring has been shown to help control blood pressure, and better control can lead to a reduced risk of death, stroke, heart attack, and cognitive impairment.
Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan’s academic medical center, published the findings in JAMA Network Open. Based on a report released last year, the data are from the National Poll on Healthy Aging.
Michigan Medicine and AARP supported the survey. It asked adults 50 to 80 about their chronic health conditions, blood pressure monitoring outside of clinic settings, and interactions with health providers. The study authors are Mellanie V. Springer, M.D., M.S., of the Michigan Medicine Department of Neurology, and Deborah Levine, M.D., M.P.H., of the Department of Internal Medicine
