Accuracy and reliability of the Del Mar Avionics pressurometer III.

We assessed the accuracy and reliability of the Avionics pressurometer, a fully automated ambulatory blood pressure recorder. Accuracy was assessed in 96 patients against the Hawksley random-zero sphygmomanometer. Two recordings were made with each device in a random sequence. No mean difference was found between methods. However, there was a marked variation in the difference between Avionics and Hawksley recordings. This was not due to variability in blood pressure alone since the agreement between Avionics and pressurometer systolic recordings (r = 0.88) was less than the agreement between sequential systolic blood pressure measurements with the Hawksley (r = 0.976, P < 0.001). In addition, a small degree of inter-device variability was demonstrated between three Avionics recorders, one device giving higher readings. Reliability was assessed in 30 patients during normal daily activities and compared with the Remler M2000. The rate of markedly artefactual recordings was higher with the Avionics. Thus, variability in Avionics recordings makes this device unreliable.