Is it reliable to measure the forearm blood pressure in children?

BACKGROUND

When the upper arm (UA) is inaccessible or a standard-sized blood pressure (BP) cuff is unavailable, some healthcare workers use the forearm (FA) to measure BP with a mercury sphygmomanometer.

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to determine the accuracy of BP measurement in the arm and FA.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized study.

SETTING

Department of Pediatrics, JNMC, Sawangi (Meghe).

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 72 children aged 5-15 years.

MEASUREMENTS

Mercury and Automatic (OMRON Tokyo, 108-0075 Japan) BP measurements were recorded from the arm and FA at 2 min intervals.

RESULTS

In our study, 72 children of both sexes were enrolled. The mean age of the children was 10.13 ± 2.82 years, and 48% were females. Pearson's correlation coefficient between FA and UA systolic BP (SBP) measured by mercury was 0.782, and for diastolic BP (DBP) it was 0.824. Similarly, Pearson's correlation coefficient between FA and UA SBP measured with an automated device (OMRON) was 0.843, and for DBP it was 0.846. The average readings for the SBP and DBP were higher in the FA than in the UA by approximately 3 mmHg. There was a statistically significant difference in both SBP and DBP.

CONCLUSIONS

The FA is an acceptable method of BP monitoring when the UA cannot be accessed. The pressure from FA is probably higher than it would be from UA.