title: Knowledge of correct blood pressure measurement procedures among medical and nursing students.
abstract: This study reports on the level of knowledge about correct blood pressure (BP) measurement procedures among 175 third-year and 176 sixth-year students at a medical faculty and 58 third-year students at a nursing college. Only 51.8% of all students thought that they knew how to measure BP correctly (28.6% in the third year and 61.9% in the sixth year at the medical faculty and 91.4% at the nursing college). Among sixth-year medical students, 12.5% knew the appropriate cuff size, 35% that the stethoscope diaphragm should not be placed under the cuff, and 43% that the cuff deflation rate affects BP measurement. Among nursing students, 33% knew the appropriate cuff size, 22% that an outpatient's BP should be measured more than once during each visit, and 55% that a diagnosis of hypertension can only be made if the BP is elevated on more than one visit.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. juliojose.gonzalez@madrimasd.net
authors.forename: Julio José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: González-López
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gómez-Arnau Ramírez
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torremocha García
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Albelda Esteban
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alió del Barrio
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Artalejo
mesh_terms: D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000295:instrumentation; D002983:Clinical Competence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D013337:Students, Medical; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires