title: Discrepancies in recording systolic blood pressure of elderly persons by ambulatory blood pressure monitor.
abstract: Agreements between auscultatory blood pressure measurements and recordings of the Suntech Accutracker II ambulatory blood pressure monitor (ABPM) were examined in 103 participants ages 23 through 91 to estimate influence of age on accuracy of automated recordings. Simultaneous auscultation by two technicians and recording by the ABPM were compared. Technicians demonstrated close agreement in auscultation of blood pressure. Mean systolic blood pressure measured by ABPM was 5.6 mm Hg lower and mean ABPM diastolic blood pressure was 6.3 mm Hg lower than average auscultatory blood pressure measured by technicians (P less than .0001). Discrepancies in systolic blood pressure measurements between technicians and ABPM were associated with age and systolic blood pressure. The age effect, controlled for gender and race, was a 0.15 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure discrepancy per year of age. Discrepancies in diastolic blood pressure measurements were associated with race but not with age or body size measurements. Automated recordings of blood pressure by this ABPM may have systematic bias compared to auscultation which exceeds current standards for ABPM instrumentation. For systolic blood pressure, this bias increases with age and may affect interpretation of ABPM recordings in elderly persons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Elam
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Graney
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Applegate
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D015982:Bias; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015924:Blood Pressure Monitors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors