Check blood pressure category

Place one adult clinic blood-pressure reading against NHS low, ideal, high-normal, high, and severe reference bands.

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ToolBlood Pressure Category Checker
Input
Output
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How it works

Systolic and diastolic values are checked separately against 90/60, 120/80, 140/90, and 180/120 mmHg. The higher of the two component bands determines the combined result, and the next systolic-or-diastolic boundary is shown; no reading is supplied automatically.

Formula
combined band = higher band reached by systolic or diastolic pressure
  • These are clinic bands: NHS home readings use the lower 135/85 high threshold.
  • NICE confirmation uses repeat measurements and usually ambulatory or home monitoring rather than one result.

Worked example

A borderline reading
128 over 82, in the pre-high band on the systolic reading
Input
											Systolic: 128
Diastolic: 82
Output
												Category: Pre-high blood pressure (borderline)
Next band: A systolic reading of 140 mmHg or a diastolic reading of 90 mmHg would move this into the High blood pressure (hypertension) band.

When to use this

Clinic screening repeats readings at or above 140/90, home diaries average against 135/85, and NICE ambulatory monitoring confirms many clinic results between 140/90 and 180/120.

Edge cases

  • A bottom number equal to or greater than the top number is rejected as an invalid systolic-diastolic pair.
  • If systolic reaches a higher band while diastolic remains lower, or vice versa, the higher component controls the label rather than an average.
  • One clinic reading is not averaged or checked against the 135/85 home threshold, so the output does not confirm hypertension.

References