Arterial stiffness and blood pressure self-measurement with loaned equipment

BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 415 hypertensive and normotensive subjects to determine the correlation between loaned self-measurement blood pressure (LSEM), arterial stiffness, and the different factors that contribute to it. METHODS: The LSEM model consists of lending a number of sphygmomanometers, property of the clinic, to patients for 3-day periods. Arterial stiffness was evaluated using the carotid-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), using an automatic apparatus. To determine the importance of each of these factors, a multiple linear regression analysis was carried out. RESULTS: Of the total number of patients, 78% were women, the average age was 57 +/- 12 years, 55.8% were hypertensive, and 38.8% were diabetic. The PWV average for the whole group was 12.1 +/- 4.2 m/sec. The correlation coefficients between the PVW and the self-measurements were 0.49 (P <.001) for the pulse pressure, and 0.46 (P <.001) for the systolic blood pressure (BP), respectively. Both represented 13.0 % of the total variation. The diastolic BP obtained by self-measurement and the serum creatinine values also had an effect on the stiffness, with 2.3 % (P =.05) each one. CONCLUSIONS: The pulse pressure readings with self-measurement correlate better with the arterial stiffness, compared with the readings taken in the office.