Blood Pressure Beyond The Clinic: Rethinking A Health Metric For Everyone

Blood pressure (BP) is typically captured at irregular intervals, mostly in clinic environments. This approach treats BP as a static snapshot for health classification and largely ignores its value as a continuously fluctuating measure. Recognizing that consumers are increasingly capturing health metrics through wearable devices, we explored BP measurement in relation to everyday living through a two-week field study with 34 adults. Based on questionnaires, measurement logs, and interviews, we examined participants' perceptions and attitudes towards BP variability and their associations of BP with aspects of their lives. We found that participants modified their use of BP devices in response to BP variability, made associations with stress, food, and daily routines, and revealed challenges with the design of current BP devices for personal use. We present design recommendations for BP use in everyday contexts and describe strategies for re-framing BP capture and reporting.