The effect of clothes on blood pressure measurement

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of clothes on blood pressure measurement. METHODS One group pretest-posttest design was used in this study. The study consisted of 162 undergraduate students studying nursing and physiotherapy at a university in Ankara, Turkey. Blood pressure was measured over the sleeve and below a rolled-up sleeve with a mercury-filled column sphygmomanometer. All blood pressure measurements were performed on the right arm during morning hours by the same nurse. Each participant's height, weight and clothing thickness were measured. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 20.71. The median systolic blood pressure values were 110.07 mmHg over the sleeve and 110.37 mmHg below the rolled-up sleeve. There were no statistically significant differences between measurements taken over the sleeve and below a rolled-up sleeve (p=0.222). The median diastolic blood pressure values were 69.56 mmHg over the sleeve and 69.59 mmHg below the rolled-up sleeve. There were no statistically significant differences between measurements taken over the sleeve and below a rolled-up sleeve (p=0.572). CONCLUSION It was found that clothes have no statistically significant effect on systolic/diastolic blood pressure measurements. Measuring blood pressure over a sleeve may save time.