Home blood pressure monitoring in the antenatal and postpartum period: A systematic review meta-analysis.

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is an effective way of managing women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) without increasing adverse outcomes. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the safety and efficacy of HBPM during pregnancy. Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane library databases were searched electronically in November 2018. Studies were included from which data could be extracted on the pregnancy outcomes and included pregnancies with HDP or at increased risk of developing HDP. Data from nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The use of HBPM during the antenatal period was associated with reduced risk of induction of labor (OR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36-0.82, 444 women, I2=0%), prenatal hospital admissions (OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.19-0.49, 416 women, I2=0%) and diagnosis of preeclampsia (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.81, 725 women, I2=37%). The number of antenatal visits was significantly less in the HBPM group (standard mean difference: -0.49, 95% CI: -0.82 to -0.16, 738 women, I2=75%). There were no significant differences between HBPM and conventional care regarding composite maternal, fetal or neonatal outcomes when used during the antenatal period. There were no significant differences between the groups who had HBPM compared to those who had conventional care regarding postpartum readmissions and obtaining a blood pressure measurement within 10days of delivery after discharge. The significant clinical heterogeneity and low quality of evidence are the main limitations, and therefore, more high quality studies are needed.