Blood pressure (BP) measurement, a technique first described over a century ago, is an essential component of clinical care and critical for the detection and management of hypertension. Accordingly, the ramifications of inaccurate BP measurement, which is a persistent and pervasive problem worldwide, are profound. Assuming a global prevalence of hypertension of 1.4 billion, a 5‐mmHg error in BP measurement has been estimated to result in the incorrect classification of hypertension status in at least 84 million individuals worldwide. In addition, incorrect classification has important ramifications for individual patients, whether it leads to misdiagnosis and inappropriate prescribing of antihypertensive drugs, or to lack of recognition of a clinical condition that can cause devastating cardiovascular consequences. The continued rise in the global prevalence of hypertension has made work related to optimizing BP measurement even more critical, and notwithstanding similar initiatives that have been conducted or are ongoing, additional efforts to improve BP measurement on a global scale are clearly needed.
