Blood Pressure Monitor Reviews

Mark of Fitness MF-81 Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor 

Mark of Fitness, a subsidiary of Japanese company Nihon Seimitsu Sokki, is a leading manufacturer of blood pressure monitors, and the MF-81 is one of the most popular models on the market.

Unfortunately, it is seldom possible to find objective reviews of blood pressure monitors on the internet.

An excellent background resource is “Home Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Technology That Has Come of Age,” an article on the US Pharmacist website. It says:

The home blood pressure monitor market is flooded with a multitude of manufacturers offering closely competitive products. These products continue to change with respect to their complexity, variety of functions, and cost. Accuracy should be the primary goal for device selection. The number of products available to patients can understandably cause confusion and an opportunity for the pharmacist to provide knowledgeable information to the buyer. Internet-based medical device retailers are another common venue for purchasing a monitor. Data gathered by Information Resources, Inc showed that at least 65% of the home blood pressure monitors in the US are sold by Omron Healthcare Corporation. Other popular device manufacturers include A&D Medical/LifeSource, Lumiscope, Mark of Fitness, Panasonic, and Samsung. All are producing high-quality, clinically tested monitors.

Amazon.com has some useful customer reviews of the MF-81. Here’s one:

I bought this for my mother who was told by her doctor to keep track of her blood pressure. This has been the best useful monitor ever, it has a large cuff which is great since she has a weight issue and the large numbers on the screen are amazing my mom can read her results without having to put on her glasses. It's very accurate and since it has a memory showing date, time and results there's no need for her to write it down on a piece of paper. I would recomend this to anyone who needs to constantly check their blood pressure.

And another:

I've used the MF-81 for a few months and I've found it to be very accurate, reliable and, for the most part, easy to use. I haven't been able to test it against a doctor's office mercury cuff (considered the most accurate), but it was tested against another cuff that was tested as accurate and it was pretty much right on the money.

Positives: Accurate, compact, inexpensive (other cuffs with the same features typically cost more), fits both small and large wrists, remembers last 60 readings and gives average.

Negatives: To find out the average of the last 60 readings requires hitting the "memory" button up to 60 times. I lost my instruction booklet so maybe there's a faster way. If not, this is an inconvenience. The battery warning symbol is also rather unreliable. Mine has given a low battery warning for a month and I've used it between 50 and 100 times without a problem.

For the most part this is real bargain. I needed an accurate wrist cuff and I didn't want to spend a lot of money so it's perfect in that sense. If you require getting an average reading without much fuss then you might want to pay more for an easier to use model.

The Mark of Fitness corporate website contains information about all its products. Concerning wrist blood pressure monitors, such as the MF-81, it says:

These compact and convenient models allow you to take your blood pressure quickly with very good accuracy. Ease-of-use has made these monitors the fastest growing segment of the blood pressure monitor market. Since there's no need to remove a jacket or sweater, they can be much quicker than upper arm models. Wrist units are generally regarded as more accurate than finger units because of greater blood flow and it is less likely that environmental factors will affect a reading from the wrist.

* Get the Latest Price on the Mark of Fitness MF-81 Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor.

February 20^th, 2006
Updated: March 29th, 2007