Home Blood Pressure Monitoring In Elderly Hypertensive Patients

Objective To investigate the home blood pressure monitoring-related knowledge and behaviors in elderly hypertensive patients aged≥65 years in Guangzhou.Methods Seven hundred and sixty-five elderly hypertensive patients who underwent physical examination in our hospital from March 2016 to May 2016 were divided into home blood pressure moitoring group (n=354) and non home blood pressure monitoring group (n =411).Their baseline data (gender,age,vital signs,past medical history and laboratory test parameters),frequency and time of home blood pressure monitoring,rate of normalized blood pressure were recorded.Results The blood pressure was monitored once a day in 224 (29.3％),several times a day in 32 (4.2％),at unregular times in 98 (12.8％),at morning in 205 (26.8％),before going to bed in 12 (1.6％),at morning and before going to bed in 17 (2.2％),at presence of symptoms in 120 (15.7％) out of the 765 hypertensive patients.The awareness rate of blood pressure decreasing target and the achieved rate of normal blood pressure were significantly higher while the SBP was significantly lower in home blood pressure moitoring group than in non home blood pressure monitoring group (33.9％ vs 22.4％,53.7％ vs 44.0％,P=0.000;137.46±18.23 mm Hg vs 140.78±18.36 mm Hg,P=0.008).Conclusion The rate of home blood pressure monitoring is not high and the home blood pressure monitoring-related knowledge is poor in elderly hypertensive patients.Training of home blood pressure monitoring-related knowledge should thus be strengthened in health education of elderly hypertensive patients in order to improve their blood pressure.