Ambulatory blood pressure recording

An ambulatory blood pressure recording will measure your blood pressure over a period of 24 hours whilst you are doing your normal activities or are asleep. This should give your doctor an accurate representation of your blood pressure from a day-to-day perspective.

You wear a small digital blood pressure monitor throughout the day that is attached to a belt around your waist and connected to a cuff on your upper arm. The monitor records your blood pressure at regular intervals.

This will not affect your daily routine or your sleep.

The test is particularly used for patients whose blood pressure doesn’t respond to drug treatment or for patients suspected of “white coat hypertension” (high blood pressure due to anxiety caused by clinical environment). Also, it helps the doctor understand how your blood pressure is changing throughout the day.

Your consultant can use the test results to see if your medicines need changing or adjusting, by monitoring their effects on blood pressure through the day and night.

It can also be used for patients who have developed target organ damage or patients who suffer from high blood pressure during pregnancy.

The results of your ambulatory blood pressure recording can help your doctor identify the causes of abnormal blood pressure.