title: Sphygmomanometers--an audit in general practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The accuracy of sphygmomanometers used in Australian general practice is unknown but potentially important.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the accuracy of sphygmomanometers in general practice in the Hunter region of New South Wales using a gold standard. Practices were recruited by an advertisement in the division newsletter.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty practices (35%) volunteered. A total of 404 instruments were checked. Over 95% of sphygmomanometers were within 4 mmHg of gold standard sphygmomanometer across the clinical pressure range. Mercury sphygmomanometers were more accurate than aneroid (p<0.01). There was no significant association between accuracy and age, calibration, or visual inspection of the instruments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated a high accuracy rate of the sphygmomanometers checked, especially those sphygmomanometers that were mercury.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of General Practice, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales. nayankumar.shah@newcastle.edu.au
authors.forename: Nayankumar C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Sibbritt
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heaney
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sharples
mesh_terms: D004868:Equipment Failure; D005194:Family Practice / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019722:Sphygmomanometers