Follow the follow-up intervals your doctor sets, and record each measurement in the same notebook

Chronic disease is about change over a stretch of time, not a single reading. Measuring blood pressure at home alone does not show the pressure coming down because of that. Bring the readings to the doctor and let the doctor adjust the drugs from them, and the pressure falls more. When you change hospitals, test results marked for mutual recognition are ones the hospital generally should not make you repeat.

Cost

Each test costs from a few dozen to a few hundred CNY. A hospital visit plus waiting for results takes some time. The hard part is going again and again on schedule without putting it off.

Benefit

Chronic conditions require seeing how values shift over time; a single point is not enough. For hypertension, one meta-analysis pooled individual data from 15 randomized trials and 7,138 people. Compared with usual care, home self-measurement at 12 months meant mean change in office systolic blood pressure −3.2 mmHg (95% CI −4.9 to −1.6). Self-measurement alone without other support showed no clear effect: −1.0 mmHg (−3.3 to 1.2, difference may be chance). The most supported package lowered by 6.1 mmHg (3.2 to 9.0). Supported care means a doctor, pharmacist, or patient adjusting meds from readings, plus health education and lifestyle guidance. The author’s conclusion: measuring alone does not reliably lower pressure; pairing readings with dose adjustment does. These endpoints are blood pressure, not death. When changing hospitals, a joint measure from the National Health Commission «国家卫健委» and three other agencies states: if the patient’s existing test results meet mutual-recognition rules and satisfy clinical need, the hospital and clinician must not repeat tests. Recognized reports carry an “HR” mark, e.g. (全国HR) (national HR)

Notes

B only because direct evidence is for hypertension alone and stops at blood pressure, not mortality. No study was found on health outcomes from “keeping readings in one notebook” itself. Each time record at least four items: date, value, drug name, and dose. Photos of lab slips on your phone are fine, but keep everything in one place. Mutual recognition has exceptions: changed condition, rapidly changing results, before surgery or transfusion, and emergency rescue—hospitals may repeat tests. Copying and keeping medical records and imaging: see Section 24, item 5 (keep your own copy of records, reports, and imaging)

Sources · 2

1. Tucker KL, Sheppard JP, Stevens R, et al. (2017). Self-monitoring of blood pressure in hypertension: A systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 14(9), e1002389. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002389
2. 国家卫生健康委、国家医保局、国家中医药局、中央军委后勤保障部卫生局 (2022). 关于印发医疗机构检查检验结果互认管理办法的通知（国卫医发〔2022〕6 号），第十三条、第十七条、第十九条. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-02/19/content_5…