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Target Blood Pressure Calculator

See the blood pressure target your profile falls under and how far the current reading is from it.

How it is calculated

The tool picks a target from the guideline you choose and compares your reading with it. ACC/AHA (2017): below 130/80 mmHg for everyone. ESC/ESH (2018): below 130/80 under age 65 and below 140/80 from 65. JNC 8 (2014): below 140/90 for anyone with diabetes or chronic kidney disease, otherwise below 150/90 from age 60 and below 140/90 under 60. Only JNC 8 reads the diabetes and kidney boxes. You are at goal only if both systolic and diastolic are below the target. If not, it states how many mmHg each is over, counted as the drop needed to get just under the target. Inputs that cannot describe an adult show no result: age under 18 or above 120, systolic outside 50 to 300, diastolic outside 20 to 200, or a diastolic value that is not below the systolic. The wording follows the page language. It is educational and not medical advice.

Worked example

A 55-year-old with no diabetes or kidney disease reads 145/92 mmHg and uses the ACC/AHA guideline. The target is Below 130/80 mmHg. Systolic 145 is not below 130 and diastolic 92 is not below 80, so the status is above goal. The tool counts systolic 145 − 129 = 16 mmHg and diastolic 92 − 79 = 13 mmHg to get under the target. With the JNC 8 guideline the same person, aged under 60 with no conditions, would have a target below 140/90 and would still be above goal, by 6 and 3 mmHg.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering a single home reading rather than an average. One reading can swing well above or below your usual level, and guidelines refer to repeated readings.
  • Comparing your number to one guideline's target and then to a different guideline's wording elsewhere. The same reading can be at goal under one and above goal under another.
  • Expecting diabetes or kidney disease to change the target under ACC/AHA or ESC/ESH. In this tool only JNC 8 uses them, and the ESC/ESH target depends on age alone.
  • Typing the diastolic value first, or swapping the two values. The tool needs systolic higher than diastolic and shows nothing otherwise; it also shows nothing for an age under 18.
  • Treating the result as a reason to start or stop medication. The target is for discussion with your clinician, who knows your whole history.

Sources

About this calculator

Different major cardiology guidelines set slightly different blood pressure targets depending on a patient’s age and health conditions: the ACC/AHA 2017 guideline generally recommends under 130/80 mmHg for most adults, the European ESC/ESH 2018 guideline sets under 130/80 for adults under 65 and under 140/80 from age 65, and the older JNC 8 guideline set looser thresholds, especially for adults over 60. Of the three, only JNC 8 reads diabetes or chronic kidney disease: with either condition it sets 140/90 mmHg at any age, which tightens the target only for adults 60 and over (whose default is otherwise 150/90); the ACC/AHA target here is 130/80 across the board and ESC/ESH varies with age alone.

These differences matter in practice because a reading of, say, 135/85 mmHg is “at goal” under one guideline and “above goal” under another, and clinicians choose which guideline to follow based on patient age, comorbidities and regional practice — a discrepancy patients often notice when comparing notes with a doctor in a different country or reading online sources that cite different guidelines without saying which one. Knowing your target under a specific guideline, rather than a single one-size-fits-all number, is what tells you and your care team whether your current reading actually needs treatment adjustment.

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