Cardiovascular responses during cuff inflation in subjects who have been sensitised to the measurement of their blood pressure.

Changes in arterial pulse transit time, interbeat interval and the interval between the ECG signal and the arrival of the ensuing pulse at a peripheral site were recorded in response to the attachment and inflation of the cuff during blood pressure measurement. Two groups of subjects were used: a control group and a blood-pressure sensitised group. Blood-pressure sensitised individuals were defined as those who reported themselves to have been diagnosed as hypertensive by a physician, since it was hypothesised that learned or emotional responses to blood-pressure measurement would be greater in this group. No cardiovascular response to the blood-pressure measurement procedure was observed in the control group, but the blood-pressure sensitised group showed an increase in interbeat and a decrease in pulse transit time during cuff inflation. Decreases in pulse transit time are thought to reflect increases in diastolic blood pressure and arterial rigidity.