Measuring your blood pressure in the tranquil and familiar atmosphere of your home will provide the most accurate readings. It is, however, important that you adhere to the instructions set out below.

Please note that the blood pressure monitor should not be used by anyone else, as this may have an impact on the settings.

Before the measurement, it is important that you:

• do not take medication until you have measured your blood pressure in the morning.
• do not smoke or drink coffee or tea 30 minutes before measuring.
• do not engage in physical activity 30 minutes before measuring.
• make sure that you will not be disturbed during the measurement
• sit quietly and relax for five minutes before starting the measurement. 

• avoid crossing your legs and let your back rest against the chair's backrest.
• you use the same arm for every measurement
• you roll up your sleeve, which must not be tight as this may present faulty readings.

How to measure your blood pressure

1. Wrap the cuff firmly in place around your upper arm a little above your elbow
2. The air hose should be in the middle of the arm above the elbow bend, and the air hose should point downward
3. The cuff must not be too tight-fitting. You should be able to slide one finger between your arm and the cuff
4. Press the start button of the monitor

The measurement begins when you press the start button – and the cuff may feel a little tight around the arm. Remember that you must neither talk nor move during the measurement, which will take a couple of minutes.

Measure your blood pressure three days in a row

You should measure your blood pressure both in the morning and evening for 3 consecutive days.

• Just before breakfast, you measure your blood pressure 3 times in a row
• Just before your evening meal, you once again measure your blood pressure 3 times in a row.

Take a short break of 1-2 minutes between each of the 3 measurements.

Keep a log of your readings

Keep a blood pressure log of your readings, using the table on page 4. Each measurement will provide three readings on the screen. Only write down the two upper readings which represent the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively.

The illustration:

• The top number: your high (systolic) blood pressure
• The middle number: your low (diastolic) blood pressure
• The bottom number: your pulse.

Returning the monitor

It is possible for you to borrow the monitor for a fortnight. After having measured your blood pressure for three days in a row, we therefore ask you to return the monitor to the place from which you received it. This way, others will have the same opportunity for borrowing a device for monitoring their blood pressure at home.

Please hand in the monitor together with the table of your readings no later than a fortnight after you borrowed the device.

Contact

If you have questions or are in doubt, you are welcome to contact the Nursing Advisory Service at phone: 39 68 08 00 on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.