: Are blood pressure numbers recorded during an office visit really meaningful? On a recent visit to my primary care doctor the staff did the perfunctory BP reading. I had just sat down a few seconds prior. The reading was

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Are blood pressure numbers recorded during an office visit really meaningful?
On a recent visit to my primary care doctor the staff did the perfunctory BP reading. I had just sat down a few seconds prior. The reading was done only once.

Is such a reading at all meaningful?

I found this article which seems to suggest that the common practice of measuring too quickly skews the numbers:

“Currently, most patients get called back for their appointment, sit on the table, and immediately get their blood pressure measured,” Turner said. “Our study reaffirmed the American Heart Association’s technique that patients should sit in a calm environment with feet flat on the floor, resting their back against the chair for at least five minutes before taking a blood pressure measurement on a bare arm at heart level. All too often, this doesn’t happen. ”

Isn't this a form of malpractice?

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