Nonvalidated Home Blood Pressure Devices Dominate the Online Marketplace in Australia
- 1 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Hypertension
- Vol. 75 (6), 1593-1599
- https://doi.org/10.1161/hypertensionaha.120.14719
Abstract
Self-home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is recommended to guide clinical decisions on hypertension and is used worldwide for cardiovascular risk management. People usually make their own decisions when purchasing BP devices, which can be made online. If patients purchase nonvalidated devices (those not proven accurate according to internationally accepted standards), hypertension management may be based on inaccurate readings resulting in under- or over-diagnosis or treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the number, type, percentage validated, and cost of home BP devices available online. A search of online businesses selling devices for home BP monitoring was conducted. Multinational companies make worldwide deliveries, so searches were restricted to BP devices available for one nation (Australia) as an example of device availability through the global online marketplace. Validation status of BP devices was determined according to established protocols. Fifty nine online businesses, selling 972 unique BP devices were identified. These included 278 upper-arm cuff devices (18.3% validated), 162 wrist-cuff devices (8.0% validated), and 532 wrist-band wearables (0% validated). Most BP devices (92.4%) were stocked by international e-commerce businesses (eg, eBay, Amazon), but only 5.5% were validated. Validated cuff BP devices were more expensive than nonvalidated devices: median (interquartile range) of 101.1 (75.0–151.5) versus 67.4 (30.4–112.8) Australian Dollars. Nonvalidated BP devices dominate the online marketplace and are sold at lower cost than validated ones, which is a major barrier to accurate home BP monitoring and cardiovascular risk management. Before purchasing a BP device, people should check it has been validated at https://www.stridebp.org.Keywords
This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Validation of the iHealth BP5 wireless upper arm blood pressure monitor for self-measurement according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010Blood Pressure Monitoring, 2013
- Validation of Omron RS8, RS6, and RS3 home blood pressure monitoring devices, in accordance with the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010Vascular Health and Risk Management, 2013
- Home measurement of blood pressure and cardiovascular diseaseJournal Of Hypertension, 2012
- Validation of four automatic devices for self-measurement of blood pressure according to the international protocol of the European Society of HypertensionVascular Health and Risk Management, 2011
- European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010 for the validation of blood pressure measuring devices in adultsBlood Pressure Monitoring, 2010
- Validation of four automatic devices for self-measurement of blood pressure according to the International Protocol: The Pic Indolor Personal Check, Comfort Check, My Check and Travel CheckBlood Pressure, 2009
- Home sphygmomanometers: validation versus accuracyBlood Pressure Monitoring, 2009
- Validation of four automatic devices for self-measurement of blood pressure according to the International Protocol: The Pic Indolor Personal Check, Comfort Check, My Check and Travel CheckBlood Pressure, 2009
- Validation of the A&D wrist-cuff UB-511 (UB-512) device for self-measurement of blood pressureBlood Pressure Monitoring, 2006
- Long-Term Risk of Mortality Associated With Selective and Combined Elevation in Office, Home, and Ambulatory Blood PressureHypertension, 2006