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. 2024 Oct 7:e245213.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.5213. Online ahead of print.

Arm Position and Blood Pressure Readings: The ARMS Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial

Hairong Liu  1   2 , Di Zhao  1   2 , Ahmed Sabit  3 , Chathurangi H Pathiravasan  3 , Junichi Ishigami  1   2 , Jeanne Charleston  1   2 , Edgar R Miller 3rd  4 , Kunihiro Matsushita  1   2   4 , Lawrence J Appel  1   2   4 , Tammy M Brady  1   2   5
Affiliations

Arm Position and Blood Pressure Readings: The ARMS Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial

Hairong Liu et al. JAMA Intern Med. .

Abstract

Importance: Guidelines for blood pressure (BP) measurement recommend arm support on a desk with the midcuff positioned at heart level. Still, nonstandard positions are used in clinical practice (eg, with arm resting on the lap or unsupported on the side).

Objective: To determine the effect of different arm positions on BP readings.

Design, setting, and participants: This crossover randomized clinical trial recruited adults between the ages of 18 and 80 years in Baltimore, Maryland, from August 9, 2022, to June 1, 2023.

Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to sets of triplicate BP measurements with the arm positioned in 3 ways: (1) supported on a desk (desk 1; reference), (2) hand supported on lap (lap), and (3) arm unsupported at the side (side). To account for intrinsic BP variability, all participants underwent a fourth set of BP measurements with the arm supported on a desk (desk 2).

Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcomes were the difference in differences in mean systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) between the reference BP (desk 1) and the 2 arm support positions (lap and side): (lap or side - desk 1) - (desk 2 - desk 1). Results were also stratified by hypertensive status, age, obesity status, and access to health care within the past year.

Results: The trial enrolled 133 participants (mean [SD] age, 57 [17] years; 70 [53%] female); 48 participants (36%) had SBP of 130 mm Hg or higher, and 55 participants (41%) had a body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 30 or higher. Lap and side positions resulted in statistically significant higher BP readings than desk positions, with the difference in differences as follows: lap, SBP Δ 3.9 (95% CI, 2.5-5.2) mm Hg and DBP Δ 4.0 (95% CI, 3.1-5.0) mm Hg; and side, SBP Δ 6.5 (95% CI, 5.1-7.9) mm Hg and DBP Δ 4.4 (95% CI, 3.4-5.4) mm Hg. The patterns were generally consistent across subgroups.

Conclusion and relevance: This crossover randomized clinical trial showed that commonly used arm positions (lap or side) resulted in substantial overestimation of BP readings and may lead to misdiagnosis and overestimation of hypertension.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05372328.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Ms Liu reported grants from Resolve to Save Lives outside the submitted work. Dr Matsushita reported grants from the National Institutes of Health and personal fees from Kowa Company, RhythmX AI, and Fukuda Denshi outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

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