Patients Can't Keep Up With At-Home Blood Pressure Monitoring, Researchers Report

Key TakeawaysMost people with high blood pressure can’t keep up with at-home blood pressure monitoringA full third of patients provided free blood pressure devices didn’t use them onceAbout 35% kept up with the weekly tests requested, and 18% took them half the time.MONDAY, Jan. 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Treatment of high blood pressure is based on continual monitoring, with people checking their readings regularly and doctors steering their care based on those tests.But many patients either can’t or won’t keep up with blood pressure monitoring at home, undermining efforts to improve their heart health, according to a study published Jan. 21 in JAMA Cardiology.Even with a ton of assistance — free automated devices, education, personalized support — nearly two-thirds of people participating in an at-home blood pressure management program failed to take once-a-week readings requested by their doctor, researchers found.Only 35% of the patients took their blood pressure at home on a near-weekly basis, results showed.“Current guidelines require frequent, carefully timed blood pressure measurements for accuracy, but the reality of patients’ lives often makes this unrealistic,” lead researcher Dr. Ozan Unlu, a fellow in interventional cardiology at Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute in Boston, said in a news release.At-home blood pressure measurements are often more accurate than readings taken in a doctor’s office, researchers said in background notes.Based on this, the American Heart Association currently advises people with high blood pressure to take two readings, one minute apart, twice daily for up to seven days to obtain an accurate average before they see a doctor, researchers said.“A single blood pressure reading in the doctor’s office can be misleading,” senior researcher Dr. Naomi Fisher, an endocrinologist at Mass General Brigham, said in a news release.“Stress, recent physical activity or anxiety during a visit can artificially elevate readings,” she said. “By collecting multiple measurements per day at home over several days we gain a far more accurate picture of a patient’s true blood pressure and can tailor treatment more effectively.”For the new study, researchers enrolled 3,390 people in a remote management program to see whether at-home monitoring could effectively lower blood pressure.Participants were asked to take 28 weekly readings, all of which were automatically transmitted to health care workers. The patients all had high blood pressure and were being treated at Mass General Brigham.Results showed that people who actively measured their blood pressure at home had a better chance of getting it under control, leading to a 40% lower risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death.Unfortunately, only 35% of study participants fully engaged in at-home monitoring and performed blood pressure tests on themselves nearly every week.About 33% couldn’t be bothered to send in even a single reading; 14% took a handful of readings; and 18% performed up to half the requested blood pressure tests.Researchers said these findings highlight a need for even easier ways to track blood pressure, much as continuous glucose monitors track blood sugar for people with diabetes.Wearable devices that passively collect blood pressure readings would relieve patients of the burden of remembering to take the test every week, researchers said.“This gap highlights the need for low-burden technologies that capture reliable blood pressure data without asking patients to rearrange their lives to manage their condition,” Unlu said.More informationThe American Heart Association has more on high blood pressure.SOURCE: Mass General Brigham, news release, Jan. 21, 2026 .What This Means For YouRegular blood pressure monitoring at home can help people with high blood pressure reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter