Last update:
   21-Mar-2016
 

Arch Hellen Med, 33(2), March-April 2016, 239-248

ORIGINAL PAPER

Patient satisfaction in Cyprus with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
in comparison with blood pressure measurement in the doctor's office and at home

A. Kostis,1 P. Galanis,2 M. Theodorou,3 C. Christodoulou,1 E. Vounou,1 A. Bilali2
1General Hospital of Limassol, Limassol, Cyprus,
2Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece,
3Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

OBJECTIVE To estimate patient satisfaction with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in comparison with blood pressure measurement at home or in the doctor's office.

METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted at the hypertension clinic of the General Hospital of Limassol between November 2013 and April 2014. The study population consisted of 102 patients whose blood pressure was recorded with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, office blood pressure measurement and home blood pressure measurement. Patient satisfaction with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was estimated using 13 questions. The sensitivity and specificity of office blood pressure measurement and home blood pressure measurement were estimated.

RESULTS The patients' satisfaction with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was found to be extremely high; 62% of patients preferred ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to home blood pressure measurement. The mean systolic of office blood pressure measurement was statistically significantly higher than that with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (146.4 mmHg vs 141.1 mmHg, p<0.001, mean difference=5.3, 95% CI: 2.4 to 8.2). The difference between the mean diastolic in the office blood pressure measurement and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was not statistically significant (87.1 mmHg versus 85.9 mmHg, p=0.3; mean difference=1.2, 95% CI: -0.8 to 3.0). The sensitivity and specificity of office blood pressure measurement were 68.7% and 42.1%, respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity of home blood pressure measurement were both 60%.

CONCLUSIONS Patients preferred ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to blood pressure measurement in the doctor's office or at home. Blood pressure measurements made at home or in the office are not good enough to rule-in or to rule-out hypertension, since their sensitivity and specificity are low compared to those of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is therefore considered to be the more reliable and valid diagnostic test for hypertension.

Key words: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, Blood pressure, Cyprus, Patients, Satisfaction.

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