Home blood pressure levels in pregnant women with chronic hypertension.

Objective: To explore the difference between office and home blood pressure (BP) monitoring in normotensive and hypertensive pregnant women.

Methods: We compared the mean of 1 week home BP with office BP, measured by aneroid devices, in 20 normotensive women (68 BP assessments) and 100 women with mild essential chronic hypertension without superimposed gestational hypertension (429 BP assessments). Different approaches were used including the Bland-Altman method to investigate the discrepancies between office and home BP.

Results: Systolic office BP in normotensive women (p = 0.004) and diastolic office BP in hypertensive women (p = 0.001) were lower than home BP. The concordance between office and home BPs was better for diastolic BP than for systolic BP. Only a small number of hypertensive women presented home BP >or=135/85 mm Hg.

Conclusions: In our study population, the concurrence between office and home BPs is good with the exception of systolic BP in normotensive women. Home blood pressure measurement criteria used in nonpregnant individuals are not adequate in pregnancy.