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Measurement of Blood Pressure During Pregnancy: Evaluation of the ‘TriCUFF’
Author(s) -
Brown Mark A.,
Buddie Megan L.,
Whitworth Judith A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1993.tb02052.x
Subject(s) - cuff , medicine , blood pressure , confidence interval , pregnancy , limits of agreement , mean difference , diastole , surgery , nuclear medicine , genetics , biology
Summary: Previous surveys have revealed that a major source of error in measuring blood pressure in pregnant women is failure to use a large cuff when necessary. We have tested the hypothesis that this problem could be overcome by using a single cuff containing automatically selected inflation bladders of appropriate size, the TriCUFFr̀. We compared readings obtained with the TriCUFFr̀ with those obtained using standard adult or large (obese) cuffs in 51 pregnant women. Thirty nine had normal upper arm circumferences (< 34 cm) and 12 increased arm circumferences (≥34 cm). The TriCUFFr̀ overestimated standard cuff systolic and diastolic (phase IV) readings by 2 (0–4) mmHg (mean, 95% confidence limits)(< 0.05). There was no difference between readings for women with large arms. Agreement between readings by both methods was acceptable for clinical practice in most cases. Use of the TriCUFFr̀ could significantly improve the accuracy of blood pressure recording in pregnant women.