Abstract
BACKGROUND: Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) has a substantial role in hypertension management and control. METHODS: Cross-sectional data for noninstitutionalized US adults 18 years and older (10,958) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), years 2011-2014, were used to examine factors related to HBPM. RESULTS: In 2011-2014, estimated 9.5% of US adults engaged in weekly HBPM, 7.2% engaged in monthly HBPM, 8.0% engaged in HBPM less than once a month, and 75.3% didn't engage any HBPM. The frequency of HBPM increased with age, body mass index, and the number of health care visits (all, P < 0.05). Also, race/ethnicity (Non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Asians), health insurance, diagnosed with diabetes, told by a health care provider to engage in HBPM, and diagnosed as hypertensive, were all associated with more frequent HBPM (P < 0.05). Adjusting for covariates, hypertensives who were aware of, treated for, and controlled engaged in more frequent HBPM compared to their respective references: unaware (odds ratio [OR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.53-2.63), untreated (OR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.52-2.60), and uncontrolled (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.13-1.82). Hypertensive adults (aware/unaware, treated/untreated, or controlled/uncontrolled), who received providers' recommendations to perform HBPM, were more likely to do so compared to those who did not receive recommendations (OR = 8.04, 95% CI = 6.56-9.86; OR = 7.98, 95% CI = 6.54-9.72; OR = 8.75, 95% CI = 7.18-10.67, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Seventeen percent of US adults engaged in monthly or more frequent HBPM and health care providers' recommendations to engage in HBPM have a significant impact on the frequency of HBPM.