Knowledge of accurate blood pressure measurement procedures in chiropractic students

Abstract

Objective: Blood pressure measurement is a basic clinical procedure. However, studies have shown that many errors are made when health care providers acquire blood pressure readings. Our study assessed knowledge of blood pressure measurement procedures in chiropractic students. Methods: This was an observational, descriptive study. A questionnaire based on one created by the American Heart Association was given to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and final year students (n ¼ 186). A one way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: Of the students 80% were confident that their knowledge of this clinical skill was adequate or better. However, the overall score on the knowledge test of blood pressure-taking skills was 52% (range, 24%-88%). The only significant difference in the mean scores was between the 1st and 2nd year students compared to the 3rd and 4th year students (p , .005). Of the 16 questions given, the following mean scores were: 1st year 10.45, 2nd year 9.75, 3rd year 7.93, and 4th year 8.33. Of the 16 areas tested, 10 were of major concern (test item score ,70%), showing the need for frequent retraining of chiropractic students. Conclusion: Consistent with studies in other health care disciplines, our research found the knowledge of blood pressure skills to be deficient in our sample. There is a need for subsequent training in our teaching program.

Medical students and measuring blood pressure: Results from the American Medical Association Blood Pressure Check Challenge

“…As with nursing and other nonphysician healthcare professionals, we believe strongly that competency testing of physicians should be ongoing as well. Our findings are consistent with existing studies performed outside the United States in medical, nursing, chiropractic, and pharmacy students, making it likely that this is an international problem in need of a solution and not only a domestic one . One successful strategy for mitigating the loss of competence of BP measurement skills after initial training among medical students in Turkey included refresher training in the third year followed by performing BP measurements on real patients …”

“…It is, therefore, critical that medical students attain mastery of this procedure during medical school, when they are initially taught how to perform it. However, studies from many countries have demonstrated that medical, nursing, chiropractic, and pharmacy students do not obtain mastery of the skills needed to measure BP competently while in school . We are not aware of any published studies assessing US medical students’ BP measurement technique.…”

Knowledge, Practices, and barriers to accurate blood pressure measurement procedure among Nurses Caring Cancer Patients under Anthracycline Chemotherapy in Tanzania: Implication of the Neumans theory and the Theory of planned behavior.

“…In this study, only about 48% of the participants were aware of the size of the cuff bladder required for accurate measurement of blood pressure. These results are consistent to the studies in Hispania [24], USA [29] and Australia [19] among nursing students, where 32.8%, 45 % and 57% were aware of the estimating cuff size required in blood pressure measurement respectively. Nurse should ensure that the cuff bladder length is at least 75% of arm circumference, and BP cuff bladder of 37%-50% of the patient's arm circumference (a length-to-width ratio of 2:1) [16].…”

Assessment of Nurses' Practices Concerning Blood Pressure Measurements

“…Measuring arterial blood pressure provided important information about the overall health status of the patient, for example, the systolic pressure provides a data base about the condition of the heart, arteries and the arterioles. The diastolic pressure indicates vessel resistance, the difference between the systolic and diastolic pressure provides information about cardiac output [Crosley et al, 2013]. Accurate blood pressure measurement is indispensable for successful detection and management of hypertension.…”