ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2011
Type and accuracy of sphygmomanometers in primary care: a cross-sectional observational study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Diagnostic accuracy of mercurial versus digital blood pressure measurement devices: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Sources of inaccuracy in the measurement of adult patients' resting blood pressure in clinical settings: a systematic review.Journal of hypertension · 2017Pooled it
- Physics-Informed Emulation of Systemic Circulation for Fast Parameter Estimation and Uncertainty Quantification.International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Advancements in Bio-Integrated Flexible Electronics for Hemodynamic Monitoring in Cardiovascular Healthcare.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of a school-based behavioural change intervention in reducing chronic disease risk factors in Chandigarh, India: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2024Article
- The urgency to regulate validation of automated blood pressure measuring devices: a policy statement and call to action from the world hypertension league.Journal of human hypertension · 2023Review
- The quality of patients' self-blood pressure measurements: a cross-sectional study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2021Article
- Results of a project to calibrate mercury sphygmomanometer blood pressure-measuring devices in Egypt.Journal of human hypertension · 2021Article
- Can party balloons replace autoinflation balloons to treat glue ear? A technical comparison.BJGP open · 2021Article
- Accuracy of blood-pressure monitors owned by patients with hypertension (ACCU-RATE study): a cross-sectional, observational study in central England.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Observational
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- Time spent at blood pressure target and the risk of death and cardiovascular diseases.PloS one · 2018Article
- Blood pressure measurement: a call to arms.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
- Observational
- Predicting Out-of-Office Blood Pressure in the Clinic (PROOF-BP): Derivation and Validation of a Tool to Improve the Accuracy of Blood Pressure Measurement in Clinical Practice.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2016Article
- Accuracy of monitors used for blood pressure checks in English retail pharmacies: a cross-sectional observational study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Observational
- Which is More Accurate in Measuring the Blood Pressure? A Digital or an Aneroid Sphygmomanometer.Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR · 2016Article
- Glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and their relationships to clinical outcomes in type 2 diabetes: a retrospective cohort study.Diabetologia · 2015Article
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6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies identified worrying levels of sphygmomanometer inaccuracy and have not been repeated in the era of digital measurement of blood pressure.
aimTo establish the type and accuracy of sphygmomanometers in current use. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional, observational study in 38 Oxfordshire primary care practices.
methodSphygmomanometers were evaluated between 50 and 250 mmHg, using Omron PA350 or Scandmed 950831-2 pressure meters.
resultsSix hundred and four sphygmomanometers were identified: 323 digital (53%), 192 aneroid (32%), 79 mercury (13%), and 10 hybrid (2%) devices. Of these, 584 (97%) could be fully tested. Overall, 503/584 (86%) were within 3 mmHg of the reference, 77/584 (13%) had one or more error of 4-9 mmHg, and 4/584 (<1%) had one or more error of more than 10 mmHg. Mercury (71/75, 95%) and digital (272/308, 88%) devices were more likely to be within 3 mmHg of the reference standard than aneroid models (150/191, 78%) (Fisher's exact test P = 0.001). Donated aneroid devices from the pharmaceutical industry performed significantly worse: 10/23 (43%) within 3 mmHg of standard compared to 140/168 (83%) aneroid models from recognised manufacturers (Fisher's exact test P<0.001). No significant difference was found in performance between manufacturers within each device type, for either aneroid (Fisher's exact test P = 0.96) or digital (Fisher's exact test P = 0.7) devices.
conclusionDigital sphygmomanometers have largely replaced mercury models in primary care and have equivalent accuracy. Aneroid devices have higher failure rates than other device types; this appears to be largely accounted for by models from indiscernible manufacturers. Given the availability of inexpensive and accurate digital models, GPs could consider replacing aneroid devices with digital equivalents, especially for home visiting.
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