Since getting in to see a doctor these days can be very difficult, now seems like a good time to get a home monitoring kit. For around 200$ you can purchase a set of devices that will measure your blood pressure, heart rate, weight, temperature and blood oxygenation. Quite a miracle of technology, if you think about it.
Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Monitor
A good blood pressure machine is necessary in order to assess a number of conditions, including orthostatic hypotension (dizziness when standing up, that can be caused by many psychiatric medications) and hypertension.
AMA Resources for Home Blood Pressure Monitoring
The American Medical Association has created a set of resources designed to help people accurately measure blood pressure at home.
The 7 step self measured blood pressure quick guide provides you with important information that will allow you to measure blood pressure accurately.
In addition, the AMA hired the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (NORC) to create an independent process to determine which BP devices available in the U.S. meet the AMA’s established criteria to validate clinical accuracy (the “Validated Device Listing (VDL) Criteria”). An Independent Review Committee of physician experts in the BP field assesses whether a BP device satisfies the VDL Criteria for validation of clinical accuracy.
This is a list of BP measurement devices sold in the United States that meet criteria for the US Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing™ .
We have also included recommendations from the New York Times Wirecutter site. All of these devices are on the Validated Device Listing and are reasonably priced. and easy to use. These are the current recommendations from the New York Times’ Wirecutter site.
Consumer Reports also has reviewed blood pressure cuffs and their list is slightly different.
Thermometers
Having an accurate thermometer is essential for anyone these days. Wirecutter has several recommendations, but as of this date, most of them were not available.
The good news is that most under the tongue thermometers are reasonably accurate.
For those who prefer the cleanliness and ease of use of an infrared temperature gauge you should know that there is a great deal of variability in the accuracy of these measurements.
Forehead measurements are the least reliable, unless done very carefully. Tympanic membrane (ear drum) measurements are very reliable, unless wax gets in the way. Another option that is quite reliable is measuring the temperature on the neck over the carotid artery (which you can usually see or at least feel, it is where the neck pulse rate is measured).
WIrecutter rates thermometers regularly. Their recommendations are listed below. We suggest using the Vicks ComfortFlex for its ease of use.
Consumer Reports also rates thermometers, but they have focused on infrared models that are either used in the ear or on the forehead.
Pulse Oximeter
Pulse oximeters seem like a very good idea. In theory they can quickly tell you if your lungs are not delivering enough oxygen to your body, and thus screen for significant illnesses, such as CoVID, that may show up with relatively few symptoms but large drops in oxygen in the blood. However, there is a great deal of variability in the accuracy of the devices.
If you want to find accurate devices you can go to the FDA’s website and search for FDA approved pulse oximeters, there are many of them, but then you will spend quite a bit of time searching online to find devices that you can actually purchase.
As a shortcut, one device has been shown to be reasonably accurate in studies in two medical journals and is still available to purchase: the Contec CMS50D pulse oximeter. As of September 2024, it is still available to purchase for around $30$. However, one of our patients recently purchased the device from Contec directly and had trouble contacting them about the product. No one who bought it from Amazon has reported the same issue.
A reasonable alternative would be the Beurer pulse oximeter. Beurer has an excellent reputation for quality, and medical professionals’ reviews of this device on Amazon are very positive.
Weight and Scales
Devices to measure weight are fairly reliable, but body weight measurements can be hard to translate into changes in body fat, which is usually what we care about, because most of what we measure is water (either inside the cell or outside the cell) and many factors (hydration status, edema, etcetera) affect the amount of water in the body, and vary from day to day.
So, a single weight measurement gives us only a rough idea of body fat. However, taking 2 or 3 weight measurements in a period of a week is a pretty good way to track changes in body fat.
These are the recommended body scales from Wirecutter:
The recommended scales from Consumer Reports include many models, highlighting the fact that there are many accurate scales. Generally, what differentiates scales are the features associated with the different models.
References:
- Lipnick, Michael S. MD; Feiner, John R. MD; Au, Paul BS; Bernstein, Michael BS†; Bickler, Philip E. MD, PhD The Accuracy of 6 Inexpensive Pulse Oximeters Not Cleared by the Food and Drug Administration: The Possible Global Public Health Implications, Anesthesia & Analgesia: August 2016 – Volume 123 – Issue 2 – p 338-345
doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000001300 - Ataş Berksoy E, Bağ Ö, Yazici S, Çelik T. Use of noncontact infrared thermography to measure temperature in children in a triage room. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018;97(5):e9737. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000009737
- Gasim GI, Musa IR, Abdien MT, Adam I. Accuracy of tympanic temperature measurement using an infrared tympanic membrane thermometer. BMC Res Notes. 2013;6:194. Published 2013 May 10. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-6-194
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