Faculty Collaboration Database

Lancet Commission on Hypertension group position statement on the global improvement of accuracy standards for devices that measure blood pressure. J Hypertens 2020 Jan;38(1):21-29

Date

12/04/2019

Pubmed ID

31790375

Pubmed Central ID

PMC6919228

DOI

10.1097/HJH.0000000000002246

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85072243957 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   100 Citations

Abstract

: The Lancet Commission on Hypertension identified that a key action to address the worldwide burden of high blood pressure (BP) was to improve the quality of BP measurements by using BP devices that have been validated for accuracy. Currently, there are over 3000 commercially available BP devices, but many do not have published data on accuracy testing according to established scientific standards. This problem is enabled through weak or absent regulations that allow clearance of devices for commercial use without formal validation. In addition, new BP technologies have emerged (e.g. cuffless sensors) for which there is no scientific consensus regarding BP measurement accuracy standards. Altogether, these issues contribute to the widespread availability of clinic and home BP devices with limited or uncertain accuracy, leading to inappropriate hypertension diagnosis, management and drug treatment on a global scale. The most significant problems relating to the accuracy of BP devices can be resolved by the regulatory requirement for mandatory independent validation of BP devices according to the universally-accepted International Organisation for Standardization Standard. This is a primary recommendation for which there is an urgent international need. Other key recommendations are development of validation standards specifically for new BP technologies and online lists of accurate devices that are accessible to consumers and health professionals. Recommendations are aligned with WHO policies on medical devices and universal healthcare. Adherence to recommendations would increase the global availability of accurate BP devices and result in better diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, thus decreasing the worldwide burden from high BP.

Author List

Sharman JE, O'Brien E, Alpert B, Schutte AE, Delles C, Hecht Olsen M, Asmar R, Atkins N, Barbosa E, Calhoun D, Campbell NRC, Chalmers J, Benjamin I, Jennings G, Laurent S, Boutouyrie P, Lopez-Jaramillo P, McManus RJ, Mihailidou AS, Ordunez P, Padwal R, Palatini P, Parati G, Poulter N, Rakotz MK, Rosendorff C, Saladini F, Scuteri A, Sebba Barroso W, Cho MC, Sung KC, Townsend RR, Wang JG, Willum Hansen T, Wozniak G, Stergiou G, Lancet Commission on Hypertension Group

Author

Ivor J. Benjamin MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Blood Pressure Determination
Humans
Hypertension
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Sphygmomanometers