Recommendation on smart watch for blood pressure monitoring.

Submitted by father_boognish t3_yifdd6 in BuyItForLife

My father has been getting spells from low blood pressure. He is getting treatment and regular checks, but I am looking to buy him a smart watch device for more regular monitoring. There is a wide range of options across wide price range. Having trouble discerning accuracy of these devices for BP measurements. Any recommendations?

Edit: Thank you all for the feedback. For reference, I was looking at BP Doctor Pro, bitine, DoSmarter, FITVII, Kalinco, and Omron HeartGuide.

Sounds like Omron may be the way to go (certainly the priciest)

Edit 2: again thank you for the responses. I was looking at watches based on comfort. Can anyone comment about the comfort of the arm cuffs (Omron, Withings)? Do you wear them continuously, or just put them on when you want to check?

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regaphysics t1_iuiddev wrote

Maybe I missed it but I don’t think any of them do real blood pressure reading. I’d get a dedicated machine like omron.

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TVC15Technician t1_iuimd8s wrote

Omron are the best. Machines have great longevity and the app is very good.

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Wolfpack_DO t1_iuj092z wrote

Omron is what I recommend to patients. Cheap and reliable!

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miklosp t1_iuif9ck wrote

Smart watches don't do blood pressure monitoring currently as far as I aware. There is a bunch of Chinese crap that will happily make up a number for you, but it's all crap. I suspect, it's just not something you can do based on optical sensors.

I looked around, but the only product that seems to be working, and you can actually buy is this: https://aktiia.com/uk/blood-pressure-monitor

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BendyBoo t1_iuj5bac wrote

Interesting, thanks for the link. Not available in the US yet, but I'll be keeping an eye out for this.

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sqjam t1_iuiordv wrote

samsung galaxy 4 & 5

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nalc t1_iuj0nkc wrote

... have optical heart rate and pulse oximeter sensors which are totally different from blood pressure

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sqjam t1_iuj2hb9 wrote

he said smart watces dont do blood pressure monitoring. They do. I dont know anything about method used and accuracy.

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miklosp t1_iuje561 wrote

Apparently it does have a blood pressure measurment, "based on pulse wave velocity (PWV) method to estimate systolic and diastolic blood pressure".

>For accurate blood pressure readings, Samsung recommends that a calibration is required every four weeks with an arm cuff and blood pressure monitor, so be prepared to buy one of these to get the most out of tracking blood pressure on the Galaxy Watch. Users should also measure their blood pressure while at rest and not during a workout.

People have different experiences about the accuracy: https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/wearables/blood-pressure-reliability-amp-accuracy/td-p/2925769

Anyway, OP might find this an interesting lead to follow.

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rPZeJUV2R4JMRpArp t1_iuin4ba wrote

As others have mentioned Omron is really the best brand here. Their machines are solid and anything in the $50-$100 range will last you probably 10-15 years at least. I've had 2 of their devices for about 10 years now and they're basically brand new.

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SleepyLakeBear t1_iuiqtqa wrote

I asked my Doc for a Rx for a BP monitor and insurance covered it. It's worth the ask.

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jhd402 t1_iuigcjr wrote

I use the Omron BP786N. Upon the recommendation of my Dr. I take a measurement before I even sit up. The reason why is that the level of my blood pressure medication will be the lowest of the day. If it is consistently high at that reading then my dosage may need adjustment. During the rest of the day your blood pressure will fluctuate between highs and lows, either of those peaks and valleys aren't representative of your actual mean level blood pressure which is what you're treating.
For example getting a reading at your Dr's office isn't always a good representation as you may have stress from just getting to the Dr's office.

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jhd402 t1_iuiz6ub wrote

Edit: Take the first reading in bed right after you wake up.

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Maverick1672 t1_iujbgff wrote

There’s not a single watch on the market that will tell you BP

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incasesheisonheretoo t1_iuio5rp wrote

I don’t know of any that do it currently, nor would I trust them if they did. Rumor has it that the Apple Watch will get it eventually (2024 at the earliest, supposedly), but I doubt it’ll be as accurate as a standalone monitor.

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Key-Government-3157 t1_iuj2620 wrote

Many comments that watches do not measure BP. Huawei watch D does.

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Patrol-007 t1_iuj607g wrote

Costco carries the blood pressure cuffs

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keepmyshirt t1_iuj6yde wrote

You can get a withings blood pressure monitor. It goes into an app. There’s also a withings scan watch that does ECG and SpO2.

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citiusaltius t1_iuj8aux wrote

I tried omron. It was whacky with the readings. It gave me a much lower reading than the doctors office. I got myself a whitings scale one. Works really well.

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tmccrn t1_iujr8aa wrote

I have heard a lot of good things about Omron and have one for personal use. I chose it because of accuracy ratings

For work, I use my CareTouch Slim SSW2.1 wrist cuff. It doesn’t link to my phone data, but is rechargeable and keeps a bit of history. Since I use it on many people, the Bluetooth/WiFi thing isn’t important to me on it.

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2lovesFL t1_iujjg58 wrote

*heart rate monitors. grossly inaccurate. fitbit, etc.

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