Self-monitoring of ambulatory blood pressure using the Microlife WatchBP O3 yielded 90% valid readings, with 86% of participants finding the device easy or very easy to attach.
Observational (n=37)
Does the Microlife WatchBP O3 device provide reliable ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and user acceptability in volunteer participants?
The Microlife WatchBP O3 device provides a high percentage of valid readings (90%) and is highly acceptable for self-monitoring of ambulatory blood pressure.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is not widely used in clinical practice, because the measuring procedure is complex and the devices are expensive and need to be fitted by skilled medical technologists. The Microlife WatchBP O3 (Microlife AG, Widnau, Switzerland), which was developed for self blood pressure monitoring at home and adapted for ABPM, is highly affordable for an ABPM device and easy to manipulate. We performed an application test of the WatchBP O3 to confirm reliability of the device. Thirty-seven volunteer participants (age 30.4 ± 13.5 y) underwent blood pressure (BP) measurements every 30 min for 24 h, and were asked to complete a questionnaire about the user-friendliness and acceptability of the device. The participants were asked to attach the device and to detach it the next morning by themselves. The quality of recordings was assessed in terms of percentage of valid readings. The mean number of 24-h BP readings per participant was 46.6 ± 5.3. The percentage of valid readings was 90%, which was similar to that reported for traditional ambulatory devices. Eighty-six percent of participants found it is "easy" or "very easy" to attach the device by themselves. The WatchBP O3, which is easy to manipulate, may be convenient and acceptable for users. The percentage of valid readings is similar to that reported previously. A new era of self-monitoring of ambulatory BP is anticipated in the near future.
Nakano et al. (Sat,) reported a observational. Microlife WatchBP O3 was evaluated on Percentage of valid readings. Self-monitoring of ambulatory blood pressure using the Microlife WatchBP O3 yielded 90% valid readings, with 86% of participants finding the device easy or very easy to attach.