Computerised blood pressure diagnosis beats hypertension experts

30 June 2010

Irish Company dabl’s computerised system for diagnosing 24-hour blood pressure is more accurate and consistent than a leading group of international hypertension experts, according to an independent study.

Conducted by the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, the study analysed the interpretation of numerous blood pressure readings taken over a 24-hour period (known as ambulatory blood pressure measurement or ABPM).

It concluded that human observers bring an unacceptable degree of variance to interpretation of ABPM data. By removing the human error, the dabl decision support system prevents diagnostic errors and greatly assists the quality of treatment decisions made by doctors.

The findings of the study are significant in view of the increasing use of ABPM in clinical practice to assess blood pressure control throughout the day and night in patients at risk of cardiovascular events.

It is estimated that high blood pressure is being misdiagnosed in approximately 40% of all instances when measured with traditional single clinic measurement. Its major disadvantage is that the limited number of measurements bears no relationship to the variability of blood pressure over the 24-hour period. ABPM, on the other hand, allows identification of a number of patterns of blood pressure behaviour over the 24-hour period that cannot be identified with any other measurement technique.

The dabl ABPM system is the only ABPM software program to provide an automatic interpretative analysis in accordance with the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) guidelines. Once the blood pressure readings are uploaded the user-friendly dabl, plot and text interpretation are automatically generated. Used by many international centres of excellence it has been extensively validated in numerous scientific studies over the past 10 years.

Commenting on the study, Mr Bill Rickard, Managing Director of dabl said, “it comes as no surprise that computers, in the correct environment, are more efficient than humans at processing large volumes of raw data. This study confirms that dabl is an essential decision support tool for doctors which, will ensure accurate diagnosis, save valuable time and contribute to quality decision making”.

“Not having to wade through pages of raw data will give doctors more time to consider lifestyle and other factors that comprise the cardiovascular profile and to recommend appropriate treatments which will help to improve patient care and safety” stated Rickard.

Reference

1. McGowan N, Atkins N, O’Brien E and Padfield P. Computerized reporting improves the clinical use of ambulatory blood pressure measurement. Blood Pressure Monitoring 2010, Vol 15 No 3, Vol 15 No 3.