Can blood pressure be measured during exercise with an automated sphygmomanometer based on an oscillometric method?
Tomoyuki Shinohara, Naoko Tsuchida, Kanako Seki and 4 others
PMID 28626310WHAT IT FOUND
This cuff device measured blood pressure accurately only at rest.
It failed during walking and gave only 65.0% accurate readings on the bicycle, so physical therapists need another method for exercise monitoring.
Key findings
01At rest, the device measured blood pressure in all limbs and produced accurate bilateral readings in 95.0% of pairs.
02During walking with swinging arms, walking without swinging arms, and treadmill walking, accurate bilateral readings were 0.0%, 5.0%, and 15.0%.
03On the bicycle ergometer, 97.5% of limbs were measurable, but only 65.0% of pairs were accurate.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 10 healthy young adults were tested, so the results may not apply to older or medically complex patients. The study did not use an invasive or separate reference method, so accuracy was judged only by agreement between the two arms. The same type of cuff device was used on both arms, so a shared problem could make two readings look consistent. The bicycle result was only 65.0% accurate, so even the best exercise condition was unreliable.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial or personal relationships to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 97.5% measurement rate on the bicycle as proof that readings are reliable. Only 65.0% of bilateral pairs were accurate, and the authors said bicycle readings must be assessed with caution.