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The next time you get your blood pressure checked, you may consider asking the physician to take it in both arms. The reason: A difference in blood pressure readings between arms is linked to a greater risk of heart attack, stroke and death, according to researchers. They conclude that the higher the blood pressure difference between the two arms, the greater is a person’s additional health risk.
According to the authors, international blood pressure guidelines currently advise health professionals to measure blood pressure in both arms when assessing cardiovascular risk, but this is widely ignored. The latest findings could lead to a change in international hypertension guidelines, meaning more at-risk patients could be identified and receive potentially life-saving treatment, they emphasize in the report published in the journal, Hypertension.
Measuring blood pressure is a common occurrence in doctors’ offices. Blood pressure that is too high (hypertension) can increase the risk of serious health conditions, and pressure that is too low (hypotension) can cause light-headedness and fainting. Previous studies have shown that blood pressure readings can vary depending on where on the body the measurement is taken from, and can even be different in each arm. However, new findings published in the journal Hypertension suggest that this variance could have major implications.
The study was conducted by the Inter-arm Blood Pressure Difference - Individual Participant Data (INTERPRESS-IPD) Collaboration and led by the University of Exeter. They analyzed data from 24 studies where blood pressure in both arms was measured. The studies were conducted internationally, with 14 from Western Europe, 7 from the US, 2 from East Asia, and 1 from Sub-Saharan Africa. Data was collected from 53,827 participants whose deaths, heart attacks,
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Robust evidence from a large international study confirms that a difference in blood pressure readings between arms is linked to greater risk of heart attack, stroke and death.
Led by the University of Exeter, the global INTERPRESS-IPD Collaboration conducted a meta-analysis of all the available research, then merged data from 24 global studies to create a database of nearly 54,000 people. The data spanned adults from Europe, the US, Africa and Asia for whom blood pressure readings for both arms were available.
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and published today in
Hypertension, the study is the first to conclude that the greater the inter-arm blood pressure difference, the greater the patient s additional health risk.