A 45 year-old man comes for a routine physical examination. The clinic nurse measures his blood pressure, and records a reading of 146/92 mmHg. As the responsible physician, you are concerned that this man may have hypertension (high blood pressure), and know that the blood pressure level at which treatment is initiated is 140/90 mmHg.

You repeat his blood pressure measurement yourself, twice. You document levels of 136/88 mmHg, then 140/88 mmHg.

References

N. R. Campbell, A. Chockalingam, J. G. Fodor, and D. W. McKay. Accurate, reproducible measurement of blood pressure. Can. Med. Assoc. J., Jul 1990; 143: 19 - 24.