Abstract Background The diagnosis and management of arterial hypertension is based on office blood pressure measurement. However, the International Guidelines for Arterial Hypertension recommend different blood pressure (BP) measurement procedures. In this regard, our study aims to determine the existence of any difference between various blood pressure protocols. Methods Adult participants (≥18 years) were analyzed through a blood pressure screening campaign that occurred during May Measurement Month 2024 in Morocco. Four blood pressure readings were taken for each individual: the first without preliminary rest, and the remaining three after five minutes of rest, each one minute apart from the others. Three comparisons between the arithmetic mean of the last two measurements (P23) on one hand, and each of the following: a) the measurement without rest (P-5), b) the first measurement at rest (P1), and c) the arithmetic mean of the three measurements at rest (P123), on the other hand, were done. Results A total of 1,421 subjects participated in our survey (mean age 47.98 ± 16.09 years old, 51.2% women). The mean systolic BP of P-5, P1, P123, and the mean of the last two readings (P23) were 130.63 ± 20.27, 128.19 ± 19.92, and 126.69 ± 18.97 respectively. When comparing the obtained values with P23, a statistically significant difference was found (p<0,001). Conclusion Our findings confirm that different blood pressure values obtained with different BP measurement procedures can eventually influence clinical evaluation and the physician’s decision of arterial hypertension diagnosis, stating the necessity of developing a standardized BP measurement procedure for BP evaluation worldwide.
Nora et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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