What is 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring?
Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a way of measuring and managing high blood pressure (hypertension).

Hypertension is a blood pressure measurement in which your systolic (upper) blood pressure is at or above 130, and your diastolic (lower) blood pressure is at or above 80 (or 130/80). Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring allows your blood pressure (BP) readings to be recorded over a 24-hour period, whether you’re awake or asleep.

When you’re at the clinic, an instrument called a sphygmomanometer is used to take your BP readings. Usually, only one or two readings are taken during your visit.

Ambulatory BP monitoring yields many readings over a continuous period. In most cases, readings are taken every 20 to 30 minutes during the day and every hour at night. Your heart rate can be measured at the same time. These multiple readings are averaged over a 24-hour period. Changes in BP and heart rate, the BP distribution pattern, and other statistics are calculated.
Ambulatory BP monitoring provides additional information about how changes in your BP may correlate with your daily activities and sleep patterns. Guidelines for blood pressure management from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology now strongly recommend confirming a diagnosis of hypertension with ambulatory BP monitoring.