Blood pressure assessments in different subtypes of hypertensive pregnant women: office versus home patient- or nurse-measured blood pressure.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the difference between distinct methods of assessing blood pressure (BP) in pregnant women with different hypertensive disorders. METHODS: We compared office BP to home patient- and nurse-measured diastolic BP in pregnant women with essential chronic hypertension (CH), preeclampsia (PE) and isolated hypertension (IOH). RESULTS: Office BP was lower or similar to home patient- and nurse-measured BP in women with CH. Office BP was higher than home patient-measured BP in women with PE and in women with IOH (p < 0.0001). Nurse-measured BP was higher than patient-measured BP in women with PE (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: BP assessments in women with PE are significantly influenced by the environment, which should be considered in managing these women.