- An accurate blood pressure reading is an important part of preventive health care.
- Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that certain arm positions commonly used to take blood pressure readings may be producing inaccurately higher readings.
- Scientists believe these incorrect blood pressure readings may lead to a hypertension misdiagnosis.
Having a blood pressure reading taken is an important part of preventative health care. That is because having too high — known as hypertension — or too low — called hypotension — blood pressure may signal underlying health issues.
Abnormally high or low blood pressure can also lead to complications such as heart disease, stroke, organ issues, and dementia.
“Accurate blood pressure measurement is essential for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, which is key to our efforts aimed at prevention of cardiovascular disease,” Tammy M. Brady, MD, PhD, vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, medical director of the pediatric hypertension program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, deputy director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research told Medical News Today.
Brady is the senior author of a new study recently published in the journal JAMA Internal MedicineTrusted Source. The study found that certain commonly used arm positions for blood pressure readings may result in inaccurately high readings and misdiagnosis of high blood pressure.
“There are various patient preparatory stepsTrusted Source and positions recommended in the guidelines for blood pressure measurement — many of these steps take time and occasionally require additional resources to comply with. Several studies have shown that healthcare providers don’t always adhere to these steps. Both direct observation and research has shown that blood pressure is frequently measured with the arm resting in the lap or hanging at the side,” Brady explained.
“With this in mind — and in the hopes that we might be able to simplify blood pressure measurement — my co-investigators and I sought to explore how essential arm support and position was to blood pressure measurement accuracy,” she added.
MNT also spoke with Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, about this research who commented he thought it was a very practical study that highlighted the importance of proper blood pressure measurement techniques such that people could obtain the most accurate blood pressure readings.
“They found a difference from 4 to 7 millimeters of mercury in systolic blood pressure simply based on the difference in how they measured it, whether the arm was supported or whether it was just hanging to the side,” Chen explained.
“And while four to seven points may not seem like a big difference, that’s enough to push someone’s blood pressure categorization into a higher level, which could actually result in starting new medications or changing medications when they otherwise wouldn’t need that medication,” he explained.
“So people getting their blood pressures taken should remember to always have it supported on a surface, such as a table next to the chair. And this is important, regardless of whether it’s a blood pressure taken at homeTrusted Source or a blood pressure taken at the doctor’s office.”
— Cheng-Han Chen, MD