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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Quantitative Autonomic Testing
Published on: July 19, 2011
Side effects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
Marijke S van der Steen1, Jacques W M Lenders, Theo Thien
1Department of General Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Objective:
To study the experiences and complaints of patients who underwent 24 h blood pressure monitoring.
Methods:
Two groups of hypertensive patients of a tertiary outpatient clinic were asked to fill in a nine-item questionnaire about the side effects of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). The first group (n=75) used the auscultatory Oxford Medilog device (OM) and the second group (n=110) the oscillometric Spacelabs 90207 (SL).
Results:
The OM showed significantly less error readings (OM versus SL, 9 versus 19%; P=0.005) but was also less tolerated by the subjects. Sleep disturbance was noted in 53% of the OM patients group in comparison with 18% in the SL group (P<0.0001). Adjustment of daily activities occurred more often in the OM group (OM versus SL, 37 versus 19%; P=0.013) as did complaints of pain in the cuffed arm (OM versus SL, 31 versus 11 %; P=0.007). There was no difference in the proportion of patients that refused a second ABPM (OM versus SL, 11 versus 10%). Linear regression analyses showed that differences in side effects between the two devices were not due to differences in blood pressure, heart rate, age or sex.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that side effects of ABPM are not negligible and that there are differences between devices.
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