Interarm Difference in Blood Pressure, an Unspoken Necessity: A Comparative Study Among Normotensive and Age-Matched Hypertensive Individuals in a Tertiary Care Centre in South India

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Blood pressure (BP) is an important component of clinical assessment. Hypertensive management guidelines have instructed healthcare professionals to measure BP in both arms. Due to time constraints, BP is usually checked only in one arm. This study focuses on the prevalence as well as the comparison of interarm difference (IAD) in BP among different age groups and in individuals with hypertension. METHODS: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 159 subjects in a tertiary care centre in South India. The BP was recorded in both arms sequentially within a short interval. Result: The systolic IAD was found to be greater than or equal to 10 in 7.5% of normotensives in the younger age group, 13.2% of normotensives in the older age group, and 26.41% of hypertensives. The diastolic IAD was greater than or equal to 7 among 17% of normotensives in the younger age group, 15.1% of normotensives belonging to the older age group, and 26.4% of hypertensives. CONCLUSION: A clinically meaningful difference in interarm BP was observed; however, due to the limitation caused by our small sample size, this difference did not reach statistical significance on comparison of IAD among these individuals (p > 0.05). This should not take away from the clinical relevance provided by the results. The results of this study underline the importance of checking BP in both arms and the need to make it a part of daily clinical practice.