Who will bell the cat? A call for a new approach for validating blood pressure measuring devices

Abstract

Blood pressure (BP) measurement should be the foundation stone on which all decisions in hypertension, be they in practice or in research, are dependent. If BP measurement is inaccurate, it follows that all decisions will be flawed. Yet the history of clinical practice and scientific research is replete with examples of disregard for the accuracy of BP measurement. Recognizing that the commonest measurement in medicine is often inaccurate, clinical scientists and the scientific hypertension organizations have made recommendations over the years to improve the technique of measurement and the accuracy of BP measuring devices. The discipline of validating BP measuring devices has developed from primitive origins with adhoc protocols to the latest revision of the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol (ESH International Protocol), which is now available on-line (www.dableducational.org) [1].