Do environmental factors and measurement conditions affect blood pressure readings in children?
Environmental factors such as room temperature, time of day, and season significantly affect blood pressure measurements in children, highlighting the need for standardization when establishing norms.
Among 9977 public school children 6 to 9 years of age who were screened in late winter and spring of 1978 in Minnesota, statistically significant effects of individual observers, room temperature, time of day, and season were found after adjusting for multiple variables. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) for all children was lower with warmer temperatures in the examination room, whereas diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was directly related to the room temperature, after adjustment for other factors significantly affecting the variability of blood pressure. Morning measurements were also lower than afternoon measurements for SBP but showed little difference for DBP. Problems of standardization for establishing blood pressure (BP) norms for children are discussed. (Hypertension 2 (suppl I): 1-18-1-24, 1980) KEY WORDS blood pressure * children measurement error A SURVEY of elementary school children from the Minneapolis Public School System was conducted in 1978 to examine environmental and familial correlates of childhood blood pressure (BP). The cross-sectional data relating BP distribution and conditions of measurement are presented here.
Prineas et al. (Tue,) studied this question.