Cuffless blood pressure devices: the gap between patient acceptability and need for validation

Abstract

The PHE analysis showing an effect of sex on trends in salt intake determined by 24-h urine sodium measurements, and the report of Tan et al. on the performance of spot urine sodium measurements, raise the question: Is sex also a statistically significant factor influencing the downward trend in spot urine sodium concentrations reported by Tan et al. for the period of 2006-2014? Specifically, first, does a trend analysis of the spot urine sodium concentrations in women, like the trend analysis of 24-h urine sodium measurements in women, show that there were no significant downward stepchanges in salt intake between 2006 and 2014? Second, does a trend analysis of spot urine sodium concentrations in men, like the trend analysis of 24-h urine sodium measurements in men, signal the occurrence of a statistically significant decrease in salt intake between 2006 and 2009 with no significant step-change thereafter? The answer to these questions will help determine whether spot urine sodium measurements are useful in monitoring for separate trends in salt intake in women and men.

Evaluation of the ability of a commercially available cuffless wearable device to track blood pressure changes

“…The potential of cuffless devices seems superior to conventional out-of-office methods, such as ambulatory (ABPM) and home BP monitoring (HBPM), in their ability to provide a more complete BP profile. Furthermore, for users they are generally more comfortable to wear than cuff-based monitors, making them far more acceptable [ 3 ].…”

Reply to ‘Inadequate study designs for the evaluation of blood pressure monitoring devices and their potential misleading conclusions’

“…Early studies compared 24-h intra-arterial and cuff-based ABPM, where both methods demonstrated a significant dipping of BP during the nighttime [1]. Although cuff-based ABPM is imperfect due to artifacts, movement [2], cuff issues, cost and patient acceptability [3], it is unanimously recommended by all major hypertension guidelines as the best available technique for the diagnosis and management of hypertension [4–6].…”