Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP)

Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) involves your blood pressure being measured at regular time intervals over 24 hours as you move around, going about your normal daily activities. It uses a small digital blood pressure machine that is attached to a belt around your body and connected to a cuff around your upper arm. It is small enough that you can go about your normal daily life and even sleep with it.

By measuring your blood pressure at regular intervals over 24 hours, your doctor will get a clear picture of your blood pressure fluctuations over the entire 24 hours and how well it is controlled. Your doctor might suggest this test:

• To confirm if you suffer from high blood pressure and how high are the readings over a 24-hour period.
• If your blood pressure readings are always high in the doctor's clinic/during surgery, your doctor may want to know if it is actually lower outside the clinic. This is called the “white coat effect”.
• To monitor the blood pressure fluctuations throughout the 24-hour duration.
• To see how well the medicines are working, and to make sure they are controlling your blood pressure throughout the day and night.
• To see if your blood pressure stays high at night. If this is the case, your doctor might want to change your medicines or adjust your dosage.

Note:

Since the Ambulatory Blood Pressure (ABP) is being carried out to find out what your normal daily blood pressure is, it is important to carry on with your normal routine activities.