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BIBTEX RIS

Blood pressure measurement: arm circumference and cuff size availability

2009; UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO; Volume: 17; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0104-11692009000400004

ISSN

1518-8345

Autores

Eugênia Velludo Veiga, Edna Aparecida Moura Arcuri, Lyne Cloutier, Jair Lício Ferreira Santos,

Tópico(s)

Cardiovascular Syncope and Autonomic Disorders

Resumo

To avoid inaccurate blood pressure (BP) readings, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends cuff width (CW) encircling 40% of the arm circumference (AC) and cuff length at least 80-100%. This study aimed to identify inpatients AC, the corresponding cuff size and the cuff size availability. In total, 81 AC were measured in the right arm. The cuff sizes to fit them were calculated according to AHA AC/CW width 0.40 ratio. The AC varied from 17.5 to 40.5 cm and the corresponding cuff width from 6 to 16 cm. The standard cuff 12 by 23 cm, the only size available in the clinics, was appropriate for only 17.3% of the subjects, whose AC varied between 32.5 and 34.3 cm. The lack of availability of different cuff sizes continues being a challenging problem to be faced. The standard cuff available, 12 cm large, did not fit 82.7% of the identified AC, resulting in over or underestimated BP registers.

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