The position of the arm during blood pressure measurement in sitting position

Abstract

Different arm positions below heart level have significant effects on blood pressure readings. The leading guidelines about arm position during blood pressure measurement are not in accordance with the arm position used in the Framingham study, the most frequently used study for risk estimations.

The effect of clothes on sphygmomanometric blood pressure measurement in hypertensive patients

“…Prior to taking BP readings, the participant was encouraged to empty his or her bladder. Talking (Hellman & Grimm 1984), crossing legs (Foster-Fitzpatrick et al 1999, Pinar et al 2004) and the body arm position (Adiyaman et al 2006, Es¸er et al 2007) are potential confounding factors; therefore, the participants were instructed to sit in an upright posture with feet flat on the ground and back supported, with their elbows on a table. We instructed the participants to refrain from talking or moving during the procedure.…”

Food Inhibits the Oral Bioavailability of the Major Green Tea Antioxidant Epigallocatechin Gallate in Humans

“…Resting blood pressure was determined using a mercury sphygmomanometer (Livingstone International, Roseberry, NSW, Australia) with participants in the sitting position; the first and fifth Korotkoff sounds were taken to represent the systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), respectively. Measurements were done in triplicate to the nearest 2 mmHg and the average value was determined to be the participants’ blood pressure [ 47 ].…”

Influence of the hospital environment and presence of the physician on the white-coat effect

“…All participants measured their home BP with a validated semiautomatic oscillometric device, the Omron 705CP (Omron Healthcare Europe BV, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) [8]. Triple measurements were made at the nondominant arm after at least 5 min of rest, every morning and evening for 4 consecutive days, sitting in a comfortable chair with the back supported, feet flat on the floor and the arm at heart level [9,10]. The BP values were noted by the patients, and the values were checked by the physician from the device memory to confirm the validity.…”