Blood Pressure Guidelines in France
Last updated: August 2026
In France, hypertension is defined as a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher measured at the doctor's office and persisting over time — and, distinctively, the diagnosis must be confirmed by readings taken outside the clinic, where the threshold is 135/85 mmHg, before treatment starts.
This guide covers the French national framework from the HAS and the SFHTA: the thresholds, the « règle des 3 » home-measurement protocol, choosing a monitor, the new pharmacy checks, and how the French numbers compare with the US bands. Category names and limits differ by country, so if you live elsewhere, check your own national guidance too.
What counts as high blood pressure in France
France's national reference is the guidance from the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), developed with the Société Française d'Hypertension Artérielle (SFHTA). It defines hypertension as a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher measured in consultation and persisting over time. What sets the French approach apart is what happens next: before any medication is started — except in a hypertensive emergency — the diagnosis must be confirmed outside the clinic, either by automesure tensionnelle (home self-measurement) or by MAPA (ambulatory blood pressure monitoring), where the threshold is 135/85 mmHg.
| Reading (mmHg) | What it means in France |
|---|---|
| Below 140/90 at the doctor's office | Not hypertension — under the French definition's limit |
| 140/90 or higher at the doctor's office | Hypertension — to be confirmed by automesure or MAPA before treatment starts |
| 135/85 or higher as a home average | Hypertension confirmed — the out-of-office threshold that seals the diagnosis |
| Above 180/120 with symptoms | Emergency — the one case where treatment starts without home confirmation |
Once treatment begins, the French target is an office systolic of 130–139 mmHg with a diastolic below 90 at six months, confirmed by home or daytime ambulatory readings below 135/85. For patients aged 80 and over, the office target is a systolic below 150 mmHg.
One thing worth knowing: the European ESC published a new hypertension guideline in 2024, and the SFHTA relays it — but it has not replaced the HAS/SFHTA framework as France's national reference. If your médecin traitant works to 140/90 and asks for home readings, that is the national guidance being applied exactly as written.
The règle des 3 — the home protocol French doctors trust
France has a named, standardized home-measurement protocol: the « règle des 3 » (rule of threes). Both the HAS and the SFHTA describe it the same way:
- 3 readings in the morning, before breakfast and before taking any medication;
- 3 readings in the evening, before bed;
- 3 days in a row, with each set of readings spaced a few minutes apart.
That gives your doctor at least 18 readings to average — enough to smooth out the normal swings a single measurement can't escape. The specialists behind automesure.com recommend taking the readings 1–2 minutes apart and extending the run to 5–7 days where possible. Technique matters as much as the schedule: rest seated for about 5 minutes first, put the cuff on your bare arm with your forearm on the table so the cuff sits at heart height, don't move or talk during the measurement, and write the results down unmodified — the average only means something if every reading makes it onto the sheet. Our measurement guide and log template walk through the same setup step by step.
Keep the diagnostic protocol and everyday follow-up distinct. For someone already diagnosed and treated, the Fédération Française de Cardiologie suggests repeating the 3-day block once a month — emphatically not measuring every day. A monthly block gives a clean average without turning measurement into a daily preoccupation.
The règle des 3 exists because clinic readings alone mislead: many people measure 10–20 mmHg higher in a consultation than at home. When office readings are high but the home average stays below 135/85, French guidance calls it « HTA blouse blanche » — white coat hypertension — and it is precisely what the out-of-office confirmation step is designed to catch before anyone is medicated for it.
Choosing a monitor for automesure
French guidance is short and consistent on equipment: use a CE-marked, clinically validated electronic monitor with an upper-arm cuff (brassard huméral). Validated models are widely available in pharmacies and online. Wrist devices are discouraged by the French specialists — even validated ones are harder to position correctly, so an upper-arm cuff is the default choice. Our guide to types of blood pressure monitors compares the options in detail.
For recording the results, you don't need anything fancy: automesure.com publishes printable record sheets laid out for the règle des 3, and the Fédération Française de Cardiologie offers a free carnet de suivi (follow-up booklet) with the same grids. An app that computes the average for you does the identical job with less arithmetic.
Free checks: pharmacies and the once-a-year rule
Getting your blood pressure checked in France is becoming easier. A law of 27 July 2026 — France's first national cardio-neuro-vascular prevention strategy — newly gives community pharmacists (and physiotherapists) formal competence to measure blood pressure as part of cardiovascular prevention. The rollout is still in progress, with the implementing rules being finalized, but the direction is clear: the pharmacy on the corner is becoming a legitimate place to have your tension checked.
The Fédération Française de Cardiologie's advice is to have your blood pressure checked at least once a year — at the doctor's office or at home with a validated monitor. The reason is the scale of the problem: according to Santé publique France, hypertension is the country's most common chronic condition, affecting about 17 million people — roughly 1 adult in 3 — and 1 in 2 doesn't know it. High blood pressure has no reliable symptoms, so an annual check is the only way most people ever find out.
How France's thresholds compare to the US numbers
If you read English-language health sites, you'll meet a different boundary: US guidelines (ACC/AHA) define hypertension from 130/80 mmHg, while French guidance diagnoses from 140/90 at the clinic and 135/85 at home. Neither is a mistake — the two frameworks weigh the evidence on treatment thresholds differently, and both are legitimate. It simply means a reading of 134/84 is « hypertension stage 1 » to an American cardiologist and below the diagnostic threshold to a French one.
The Blood Pressure Journal app ships with the US ACC/AHA bands as its default classification, and its ranges are customizable — so if your doctor in France works to the HAS/SFHTA thresholds, you can set the app's hypertension boundary to 140/90 and its categories will match the letter you'd get after a French consultation. Whichever bands you display, the number that matters to a French doctor is the same: a home average at or above 135/85 mmHg, measured with the règle des 3, is the figure to bring to the consultation.
When a reading is an emergency
A single high reading is rarely an emergency — sit quietly for a few minutes and measure again. But if your blood pressure is above 180/120 mmHg and you have symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, sudden severe headache, or vision changes, seek emergency care immediately. In France, call 15 — the number for the SAMU, the emergency medical service. The European emergency number 112 also works throughout France and the rest of the EU.
This is the one situation where French guidance does not wait for home confirmation: a hypertensive emergency is treated straight away.
Frequently asked questions
What is considered high blood pressure in France?
French national guidance (HAS/SFHTA) defines hypertension as 140/90 mmHg or higher measured at the doctor's office and persisting over time. The diagnosis is then confirmed by readings taken outside the clinic — home self-measurement (automesure) or ambulatory monitoring (MAPA) — where the threshold is 135/85 mmHg.
What is the règle des 3?
France's standard home-measurement protocol: 3 readings in the morning before breakfast and before taking medication, 3 readings in the evening before bed, 3 days in a row, with the readings a few minutes apart. The specialists at automesure.com suggest extending it to 5–7 days where possible. For ongoing follow-up, the Fédération Française de Cardiologie suggests one 3-day block per month — not daily measuring.
Why does my French doctor want home readings before diagnosing hypertension?
Because French guidance requires it: except in an emergency, hypertension must be confirmed outside the clinic — by a home average at or above 135/85 mmHg — before medication starts. Many people read 10–20 mmHg higher in a consultation than at home (white coat hypertension, « HTA blouse blanche »), and the confirmation step exists so that nobody is treated for a number that only appears at the doctor's office.
Can a pharmacist check my blood pressure in France?
Yes — a law of 27 July 2026 newly gives community pharmacists (and physiotherapists) formal competence to measure blood pressure as part of cardiovascular prevention. The rollout is still in progress, but pharmacy checks are now enshrined in law. The Fédération Française de Cardiologie advises getting your blood pressure checked at least once a year.
When should I call 15 about blood pressure?
If a reading is above 180/120 mmHg and you have symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, or vision changes, call 15 (the SAMU emergency medical service) immediately — or 112, which works throughout the EU. Without symptoms, rest a few minutes, re-measure, and contact your doctor the same day if it stays that high.
