Introduction
Gestational hypertensive disease (GHD) complicates 10% of all pregnancies.1-4 and is a major risk factor for maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.5,6. Therefore, repeated blood pressure measurements are necessary for early diagnosis of GHD and detection of progression.3,7-10For that reason, blood pressure monitoring during pregnancy is of high importance.
Currently the gold standard for blood pressure monitoring during pregnancy is aneroid office measurement.11 However, a substantial part of the pregnant population suffering from ‘white coat hypertension’ is unnecessarily closely monitored and treated for hypertension.12,14(11) The use of home blood pressure measurement (HBPM) may overcome this disadvantage.
Current guidelines recommend home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) as a more suitable alternative.13,15 It is already known that pregnant patients are willing to undertake repeated self-measurements16. Furthermore, HBPM can be cost-effective when leading to less outpatient visits17 and is a better predictor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than office blood pressure measurement (OBPM) in non-pregnant subjects.14 However, little is known about HBPM during pregnancy.16A clinical evaluation of an easy-to-use device during pregnancy is still lacking.18-20
The Cloud DX connected HealthKit Pulsewave wrist cuff blood pressure monitor (CDXP) is a commercially available monitor that has yet not been evaluated in a pregnant population, but could be exactly the kind of modern device that has potential for the use in HBPM during pregnancy.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the CDXP in a clinical setting, to assess its performance at home and to assess user experience.