title: The inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference and risk of cardiovascular mortality: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.
abstract: The inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference (SBPD) is recommended to be in relation to potential cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previous studies yielded controversial results about the association between an inter-arm SBPD ≥ 10 mmHg or ≥15 mmHg and the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to investigate this association. We searched PubMed and Embase databases through December 31, 2014, and examined the references of retrieved articles to identify relevant cohort studies. We utilized Newcastle-Ottawa scale to assess the quality of included studies and calculated the summary risk estimates in a fixed/random-effect model. All data analyses were conducted using STATA version 11.0. A total of seven studies were identified. Compared with participants with an inter-arm SBPD < 10 mmHg, the pooled hazard ratio (HR) of CVD mortality of those with an inter-arm SBPD ≥ 10 mmHg was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.3-1.93), and the pooled HR of cardiovascular mortality of participants with an inter-arm SBPD ≥ 15 mmHg versus those with an inter-arm SBPD < 15 mmHg was 1.88 (95% CI: 1.33-2.66). The findings from the present meta-analysis indicated that the detection of an inter-arm SBPD may define a subpopulation at high risk of CVD events.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine , Shiyan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine , Shiyan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine , Shiyan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine , Shiyan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Cardiology , Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine , Shiyan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: b Department of Applied Mathematics , Hubei University of Chinese Medicine , Wuhan , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Cardiovascular mortality; SBPD; meta-analysis