title: Forearm and upper-arm oscillometric blood pressure comparison in acutely ill adults.
abstract: When patients' upper arms are not accessible and/or when cuffs do not fit large upper arms, the forearm site is often used for blood pressure (BP) measurement. The purpose of this study is to compare forearm and upper-arm BPs in 70 acutely ill adults, admitted to a community hospital's 14-bed ICU. Using Philips oscillometric monitors, three repeated measures of forearm and upper-arm BPs are obtained with head of bed flat and with head of bed elevated at 30 degrees. Arms are resting on the bed. Paired t tests show statistically significant differences in systolic BPs, diastolic BPs, and mean arterial pressures in the supine and head-elevated positions. Bland-Altman analyses indicate that forearm and upper-arm oscillometric BPs are not interchangeable in acutely ill adults.
authors.affiliation: University of Delaware, Newark, USA. kaschell@udel.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schell
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.forename: Julie K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Waterhouse
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005542:Forearm; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D019722:Sphygmomanometers