Patients’ systolic pressures vary by about 10%, regardless of whether they are measured at home or under the duress of a visit to the doctor. That variation is troubling when deciding whether to put a patient on an antihypertensive regimen: how reliable are the measurements that will form the basis of your decision? How do you get the data you need to really make an informed decision?

This edition of Clinical Conversations is all about those questions. It’s with the first author of a June 23 Annals of Internal Medicine paper that reports a striking variation, not only among measurements made with highly calibrated machines, but also between measurements made in the clinic, at home, or — most carefully — in research settings.

We hope you’ll enjoy listening in and that you’ll leave some comments with us.

Related link:

Annals of Internal Medicine article (free)

Physician’s First Watch coverage (free)