Hypertension is silent condition. Many patients are picked up on screening. Hence it is advisable to go for regular BP check up after the age of 40 0r earlier if the other risk factors are present.

Team@CMHF

Researchers recommend that healthy people should have their blood pressure checked at least every 3 years in primary care.

Furthermore, they suggest that systolic blood pressure (SBP) or mean arterial pressure (MAP) are better long-term monitoring measures than diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and pulse pressure (PP).

Osamu Takahashi (University of Oxford, UK) and colleagues studied 15,055 healthy Japanese participants (51% men) with a mean age of 48.7 years who underwent an annual check-up over a 3-year study period. None of the participants were taking antihypertensive medications at baseline. The researchers measured SBP, DBP, PP, and MAP at each check-up.

These results demonstrate that the optimal blood pressure measurement interval is 3 years or more for healthy adults with a SBP lower than 130 mmHg, and 2 years for those with a SBP of 130 mmHg or higher, explain the authors.

They conclude: “Further study is necessary regarding how other risk factors might influence rescreening in the clinical setting, for example, how best to achieve the integration of CVD risk prediction scores.”

Reference: http://www.incirculation.net/NewsItem/At-least-3yearly-BP-checks-advised-in-primary-care.aspx