Inter-Arm Blood Pressure Difference Among Nigerian Primary Care Patients— the Need for Dual Arm Blood Pressure Measurement

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Author Info

Oluwaseun Solomon Ojo Akinfemi Joel Fatusin Bolatito Betty Fatusin Ademola Oluwaseun Egunjobi Sunday Olukayode Malomo Peter Taiwo Sogunle Adegbola Meeden Ige Babajide Adekoyejo Taiwo Ayo Adesokan Nurudeen Adigun Gbadamosi Odunola Olaitan Ojo

Corresponding Author

Oluwaseun Solomon Ojo
Family Medicine Department, Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Nigeria

A B S T R A C T

Background: For many decades, hypertension guidelines have recommended dual-arm blood pressure measurement. However, the practice is poor in Nigerian primary care and its significance largely unidentified. Hence, the need to determine the significance of detecting inter-arm blood pressure difference among primary care patients in our local population. This study was done to determine the point prevalence of inter-arm blood pressure difference and its relationship with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 214 respondents at the general outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Demographic characteristics and anthropometric indices were obtained. Blood pressure readings were obtained through sequentially repeated measurements in respondents’ arms. Results: One hundred and eighty-six respondents had complete data given a completion rate of 86.9%. Systolic blood pressure was higher on the right and left arm in 102 (54.8%) and 56 (30.1%) of the respondents respectively. Diastolic blood pressure was higher on the right and left arm in 73 (39.2%) and 63 (33.9%) of the respondents respectively. The overall prevalence of significant systolic inter-arm difference (≥ 10 mmHg) and diastolic inter-arm difference (≥ 10 mmHg) were 24.2% and 18.8% respectively. Significant systolic inter-arm difference (p=0.033) and diastolic inter-arm difference (p=0.01) were significantly more among respondents with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The blood pressure readings in both arms were different among majority of the respondents, being higher on the right arm in more of them. The prevalence of significant inter-arm difference was high in the unselected primary care patients studied especially among patients with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus. Blood pressure measurement in both arms should become a routine practice during initial patients’ visits in primary care.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Sat 01, Aug 2020
Accepted: Tue 01, Sep 2020
Published: Mon 14, Sep 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Oluwaseun Solomon Ojo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.JICOA.2020.04.13