They will encourage appropriate and suitable training to be given so that both people with hypertension and their healthcare professionals are confident that blood pressure is being measured properly using home monitoring devices. Return to recommendations Blood pressure targets for people without cardiovascular disease Why the committee made the recommendations No evidence was identified to determine whether cardiovascular risk or blood pressure targets should be used. The committee agreed that in the absence of evidence the focus should be on blood pressure targets, based on their expertise and experience of current practice. The evidence for blood pressure targets showed that there were both benefits and harms associated with a lower clinic systolic blood pressure target of 120 mmHg compared with 140 mmHg in people with primary hypertension without type 2 diabetes. Although the evidence suggested some benefit in reducing mortality and cardiovascular events, the lower blood pressure target was associated with a greater risk of harms, such as injury from falls and acute kidney injury. The committee agreed that the long-term implications of these adverse events were unclear and that further research is needed. This evidence came from the SPRINT trial, which was a large study undertaken in the US. The committee discussed concerns about the population included in the study and the applicability to UK practice of the methods used. The study used automated blood pressure devices with a time delay and an isolated rest period, which is not common practice in the UK. The committee considered that the use of these devices would lead to lower blood pressure readings than in routine UK clinical practice. They also had concerns that some medicines were stopped when blood pressure targets were achieved, which may have had an impact on the results. 