Does averaging multiple blood pressure measurements reduce misinterpretation compared to single measurements in adult patients?
Averaging multiple blood pressure measurements and recording them graphically can help prevent misinterpretation of single abnormal values in clinical settings.
A single BP value outside the expected range should be interpreted with caution and not taken as a definitive indicator of clinical deterioration. Where a measurement is abnormally high or low, further measurements should be taken and averaged. Wherever possible, BP values should be recorded graphically within ranges. This may reduce the impact of sources of inaccuracy and reduce the scope for misinterpretations based on small, likely erroneous or misleading, changes.
Kallioinen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.