Clothing skews BP measurement by up to 15mmHg
13th July 2016
By Rada Rouse
MEASURING blood pressure by putting the cuff over clothing can skew results higher or lower by up to 15mmHg, a study shows.
In findings which underscore the importance of only taking BP on a bare arm, researchers found in a study of 186 individuals that the older the person the more likely clothing was to increase mean BP values.
Family medicine doctors and specialists collaborated on the cross-sectional study in Japan, taking three BP measurements from each individual in three different positions: on a bare arm, over the 1mm-thick sleeve of a cardigan and over the bunched up sleeve of a