title: Office blood pressure measurement practices among community health providers (medical and paramedical) in northern district of India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is directly responsible for 57% of all stroke deaths and 24% of all coronary heart disease deaths in India. Appropriate blood pressure measurement techniques are the cornerstone of clinical acumen. Despite the clear guidelines on BP measurement technique, there seems to be large inter-observer variations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A prospective, observational study was done to assess the knowledge and to study the current practices of office BP measurement among the 400 medical and paramedical staff working in various hospitals of a northern district of India. A single observer under the supervision of investigators observed all the participants and a proforma was filled based on AHA guidelines. After observing BP measurement technique scoring was done (≤ 8 question correct = inaccurate practices, >9 questions correct = accurate practices). Similarly, the knowledge was assessed by giving a pretested questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  5.85 % of the medical staff had excellent knowledge and 80% of the doctors and 62% of the paramedical staff had good knowledge about BPM. Only 1.47% (3 doctors) and 0.5% (1 nurse) had accurate practices. There was no correlation between knowledge and practices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the right technique and knowledge of blood pressure measurement among community health providers is inadequate and warrants further interventions to improve.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India. Electronic address: shibbachhabra@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Bishav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Naved
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aslam
authors.affiliation: Project Coordinator, Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Upma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ralhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Sarit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Vivudh Pratap
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Shibba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Dayanand Medical College & Hospital Unit, Hero DMC Heart Institute, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Wander
mesh_terms: D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D010824:Physicians' Offices; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Blood pressure measurement (BPM); Knowledge; Medical staff; Paramedical staff; Practice