Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the gold standard for assessing blood pressure.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the gold standard test for assessing blood pressure. In particular, it is used for diagnosing hypertension (high blood pressure), evaluating white coat hypertension (high blood pressure in the doctor’s office, and normal blood pressure at home), evaluating masked hypertension (normal blood pressure in the doctor’s office, and high blood pressure at home), and monitoring resistant hypertension (blood pressure that is difficult to control with medications). ABPM is the number one recommended test for evaluating blood pressure by Canadian and international clinical practice guidelines.
The test consists of wearing a special kind of blood pressure monitor that performs measurements at intervals during the day and night to give a good idea of what the blood pressure looks like at different times of the day and night. After the test is performed, a doctor who specialises in reporting ABPM studies, and in treating blood pressure, will provide an interpretation. This report will determine whether blood pressure is high enough to warrant treatment.
Pharmacist Action Plan
It is the best method of assessing your blood pressure and the only way to reliably and comprehensively assess blood pressure at night. It is especially useful if you have high readings in the doctor’s office or home and wish to confirm that you have high blood pressure. In addition, it is useful if you are taking three or more medications for blood pressure and wish to check if your blood pressure is still high. This is especially important if you are in a high risk category (heart disease, prior stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, smoker).
If you have high blood pressure at night, you should also consider the possibility that you have sleep apnea and should consider being tested.
What happens during an ABPM study?
- Visit one of our SRx pharmacies in person
- Be fitted with the ABPM device by one of our trained pharmacy technicians. This will require you to wear a blood pressure cuff on your arm, that inflates every 20-30 mins for 24 hours, and wear a small box on your waist.
- Shower or bathe before the test, as you will not be able to do so during the study.
- You will be asked to go home and go about your daily activities, and make sure to: – Not bathe or shower for the next 24 hours
– Not perform any vigorous exercise
– Not move or talk while the blood pressure cuff is inflating and deflating
– Document your daily activities using a paper diary or Heart Track Diary smartphone application
Frequently Asked Questions - Patients
After your ABPM test is complete the results will be sent to a specialist doctor for analysis and reporting. Once the report is complete, it will be either sent to your family doctor, or given to you.
Frequently Asked Questions - Physicians
Our ABPM studies are analysed, reported, and signed by a hypertension specialist.
Yes. Our partnering physicians accept referrals for management of patients with complicated hypertension conditions.
