2.5.1. Blood Pressure
Office and home blood pressure were determined by the same oscillometric automatic sphygmomanometers (Medisana BU 512, Medisana GmbH, Neuss, Germany), with a maximum error tolerance for static pressure of ±3 mmHg. Volunteers were seated comfortably in a quiet environment for 5 min before blood pressure measurements. Office and home blood pressure were determined by the average of three recordings of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, obtained at 3 min intervals after subjects had been seated on a chair with their feet on the floor and arms supported at the heart level. For home blood pressure measurements, volunteers were instructed to take measurements in the morning, 15 min after getting up and urinating (if applicable); to sit comfortably; and to take blood pressure three times at 5 min intervals. They were provided with a notebook where they had to record the measurements daily, including the exact time. Additionally, at the time of the appointments, the measurements provided by the volunteer were verified by consulting the memory of the sphygmomanometer and, if necessary, corrected in their notebook based on the time and date of measurement.