Adherence to blood pressure measurement guidelines in long‐term care facilities: A cross sectional study

Objective To assess the extent to which long‐term care facilities in Japan adhere to blood pressure ( BP ) measurement guidelines. Design Cross‐sectional, observational survey. Setting Japan (nationwide). Participants Geriatric health service facilities that responded to a questionnaire among 701 facilities that provide short‐time daycare rehabilitation services in Japan. Methods A written questionnaire that asked about types of measurement devices, number of measurements used to obtain an average BP , resting time prior to measurement, and measurement methods when patients’ arms were covered with thin (eg, a light shirt) or thick sleeves (eg, a sweater) was administered. Main outcome measure Proportion of geriatric health service facilities adherent to BP measurement guidelines. Results The response rate was 63.2% (443/701). Appropriate upper‐arm BP measurement devices were used at 302 facilities (68.2%). The number of measurements was appropriate at 7 facilities (1.6%). Pre‐measurement resting time was appropriate (≥5 minutes) at 205 facilities (46.3%). Of the 302 facilities that used appropriate BP measurement devices, 4 (1.3%) measured BP on a bare arm if it was covered with a thin sleeve, while 266 (88.1%) measured BP over a thin sleeve. When arms were covered with thick sleeves, BP was measured on a bare arm at 127 facilities (42.1%) and over a sleeve at 78 facilities (25.8%). Conclusions BP measurement guidelines were not necessarily followed by long‐term care service facilities in Japan. Modification of guidelines regarding removing thick sweaters and assessing BP on a visit‐to‐visit basis might be needed.