Effect of doctor and nurse measurement of blood pressure during an office visit

Increase in systolic pressure, determined by continuous intra-arterial monitoring, in 30 patients with hypertension as the blood pressure is taken with a sphygmomanometer by an unfamiliar doctor or nurse. A new doctor's visit raised the systolic pressure by a mean of 22 mmHg within the first few minutes, an effect that attenuated within 5 to 10 minutes and that was less pronounced with a nurse's visit. The alerting effect of the new doctor's visit persisted for four daily visits in this study but typically diminished with increasing familiarity. A similar pattern was seen with the diastolic pressure, with the peak increase being 13 mmHg during a doctor's visit.