A study on hypertension and comparability between one reading and average of three readings of blood pressure by mercury sphygmomanometer among adults in a slum of Kolkata
Author(s): Nabarun Karmakar, Saugat Banerjee, Amiya Das, Aparajita Dasgupta, Mahul Mukhopadhyay
Abstract
Background: Hypertension, a major chronic lifestyle disease is most prevalent non communicable disease in India. Blood pressure (BP) measurements in the community are generally performed with a mercury sphygmomanometer. However, it is the common teaching that average of at least three readings of blood pressure measurement is considered to be the gold-standard method. How far this is true has been determined in this study with the
Aim: To find out the prevalence of hypertension and compare the one reading of blood pressure taken by mercury sphygmomanometer with average of three such readings.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January-March 2015 among 160 adults of Chetla slum, Kolkata chosen through a two stage sample design. Subjects included -Male: 39.4%; Female: 60.6%. Data was collected by interview and blood pressure measurements. Comparison was made between the first reading and the average of three readings of BP taken by mercury sphygmomanometer.
Result: The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 30 % (48). Strength of agreement between first reading of Blood Pressure with that of average reading was excellent, with kappa=0.940.
Conclusion: Though the average of three blood pressure readings according to Standard operation Procedure is considered ideal for accurate Blood Pressure measurement it may not always be feasible to undertake such a practice especially at community level. This study observes that single reading can safely be considered for Blood Pressure measurement instead of average of three readings.