[How much is the decrease in blood pressure shown by repeated measurements during the same examination?].
The recommendations for blood pressure determination by sphygmomanometer encourage repeated measurements. In 430 subjects aged 56-87 years, three recordings were obtained at one minute intervals. On average, the blood pressure decreased 10/3 mm Hg from the first to the third recording (p < 0.001). The decrease was more pronounced in hypertensives (12/4 mmHg) than in normotensives (7/2 mm Hg) (p < 0.01), but was little influenced by sex, age, or body mass. A change of 10/3 mm Hg is relevant with respect to the risk of cardiovascular disease, diagnosis of hypertension, and antihypertensive therapy. Also, repeated measurements may reduce the number of falsely positive hypertensives, and is recommended as the standard procedure in conventional blood pressure determination.
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Hjerteavdelingen Haukeland sykehus, Bergen.
Lund-Johansen
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Omvik
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D000368:Aged; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged