Indirect Doppler flow systolic blood pressure measurements taken with and without headphones in privately-owned, conscious dogs

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of headphone use and covariates on indirect radial Doppler flow systolic arterial blood pressure (BP) measurements in dogs. Methods Between May and August 2018, 100 privately-owned dogs were enrolled. Blood pressure was measured in lateral recumbency, with and without headphones, using a randomized crossover design. The initial BP, mean of BP 2-6, weight, BCS, MCS, anxiety score, and heart rate were recorded. Mixed effects crossover analyses and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were determined. Results Eighty-four dogs completed the study. Eleven dogs were removed due to excessive anxiety, 10 of which were in the non-headphone first group. The number of dogs diagnosed as hypertensive did not differ between measurement types (19 vs. 18), with seven dogs categorized as hypertensive during both periods. Significant differences in BP were identified ( F [1, 80] = 4.3, P  = 0.04) due to higher results for measurements taken without headphones for BP 1, but not BP 2-6. Systolic BP was positively correlated with anxiety score, age, and weight. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Though BP 1 was significantly higher when taken without headphones, this pattern did not persist for BP 2-6. Lack of association between BP 2-6 results and measurement type could reflect exclusion of dogs most sensitive to white coat hypertension, acclimation to technique, or improved sound quality of headphones. Given significantly higher BP 1 results and disproportionate exclusion of dogs due to anxiety when measurements first were taken without headphones, use of headphones is recommended to improve accuracy of results.