Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22433975›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2012

The difference in blood pressure readings between arms and survival: primary care cohort study.

Christopher E Clark, Rod S Taylor, Angela C Shore, John L Campbell

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

68 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Prevalence of systolic inter-arm differences in blood pressure for different primary care populations: systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016
    Pooled it
  2. Inter-arm blood pressure difference and mortality: a cohort study in an asymptomatic primary care population at elevated cardiovascular risk.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016
    Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Association of mortality with longitudinal changes in right- and left-arm blood pressure discrepancies among hypertensive adults.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2026
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  14. Inter-Arm Blood Pressure Difference an Indicator of Coronary Artery Disease.High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension · 2023
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8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Christopher E ClarkPrimary Care Research Group, Institute of Health Services Research, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, Devon EX1 2LU, UK. christopher.clark@pms.ac.uk
Rod S Taylor
Angela C Shore
John L Campbell

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine whether a difference in systolic blood pressure readings between arms can predict a reduced event free survival after 10 years.

designCohort study.

settingRural general practice in Devon, United Kingdom.

participants230 people receiving treatment for hypertension in primary care.

interventionBilateral blood pressure measurements recorded at three successive surgery attendances.

main outcome measuresCardiovascular events and deaths from all causes during a median follow-up of 9.8 years.

resultsAt recruitment 24% (55/230) of participants had a mean interarm difference in systolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg or more and 9% (21/230) of 15 mm Hg or more; these differences were associated with an increased risk of all cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 3.6, 95% confidence interval 2.0 to 6.5 and 3.1, 1.6 to 6.0, respectively). The risk of death was also increased in 183 participants without pre-existing cardiovascular disease with an interarm difference in systolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg or more or 15 mm Hg or more (2.6, 1.4 to 4.8 and 2.7, 1.3 to 5.4). An interarm difference in diastolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg or more was weakly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events or death.

conclusionsDifferences in systolic blood pressure between arms can predict an increased risk of cardiovascular events and all cause mortality over 10 years in people with hypertension. This difference could be a valuable indicator of increased cardiovascular risk. Bilateral blood pressure measurements should become a routine part of cardiovascular assessment in primary care.

Indexed as

Blood PressureBlood Pressure DeterminationPrimary Health CareAgedAntihypertensive AgentsArmCohort StudiesDisease-Free SurvivalEnglandFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGeneral PracticeHumansHypertensionKaplan-Meier EstimateMaleAntihypertensive Agents

Identifiers

PMID22433975
PMCPMC3309155

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.