Home blood pressure assessment in children with autism spectrum disorder: A feasibility study

Introduction: Measurement of Blood Pressure (BP) in children provides insight into future Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk. Objective: To examine the feasibility and reliability of home BP monitoring in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and compare to office BP measurement. Methods: Seven day home BP monitoring was completed using an electronic device in 16 children with ASD (mean age 7 ± 3, n = 2 girls) and compared with a single "office" BP measure. Parents were asked to take two measures in the morning and two measures in the early evening. Results: Eleven parents were able to obtain >75% of measures with eight of those 11 parents obtaining >90% of measures. There were no statistical differences between mean office Systolic BP (SBP) and mean home SBP (mean difference 2 ± 9 mmHg, p = 0.46) or mean office Diastolic BP (DBP) and mean home DBP (mean difference 1 ± 7 mmHg, p = 0.68). The correlation between home and office SBP was r = 0.44 (p = 0.02). The correlation between home and office DBP was r = 0.43 (p = 0.05). Home SBP correlated with age, height and BMI (p < 0.05) while office SBP did not (p > 0.05). Three days with 4 measurements/day was sufficient to achieve reliable home BP measurements (G > 0.8). Conclusion: Home BP monitoring is feasible in children with ASD, is associated with typical correlates (age, height), and is better associated with obesity status (BMI) than office BP measurement.