Overdiagnosis in hypertension may be caused by improper arm position

Arm position could influence blood pressure measurements.

In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers assigned 133 adult participants to undergo four sets of triplicate blood pressure measurements in three different arm positions: a guideline-recommended arm position in which the arm is supported on a desk and a midcuff is placed at heart level, an arm position in which the hand is supported on the lap and an arm position in which the arm is unsupported at the side.

Compared with the guideline-recommended arm position, the lap and side positions were found to increase systolic blood pressure by a respective 3.9 and 6.5 millimeters of mercury and diastolic blood pressure by 4 and 4.4 millimeters of mercury.

The findings suggested that substantial overestimation of blood pressure readings may exist, potentially resulting in the widescale misdiagnosis and overtreatment of hypertension. The researchers estimated that improper arm positioning could result in the misclassification of hypertension in tens of millions of Americans.

Read more: JAMA Internal Medicine

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