Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (47)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by DE GAUDEMARIS, R.
Right arrow Articles by LUEPKER, R. V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by DE GAUDEMARIS, R.
Right arrow Articles by LUEPKER, R. V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 121, No. 2: 282-290
Copyright © 1985 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

THE RANDOM-ZERO VERSUS THE STANDARD MERCURY SPHYGMOMANOMETER: A SYSTEMATIC BLOOD PRESSURE DIFFERENCE

REGIS DE GAUDEMARIS1,2, AARON R. FOLSOM3,, RONALD J. PRINEAS3 and RUSSELL V. LUEPKER3

1This work was done while Dr. de Gaudemaris was a visiting scholar at the Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN
2Current address: Service Medecine Interne et Cardiologie, Center Hospitalier Regionale de Grenoble BP 217X, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France
3Division of Epidemiology, Stadium Gate 27, 611 Beacon Street SE, University of Minnesota Minne apolis, MN 55455

Reprint requests to Dr. Aaron R Folsom

The random-zero and standard mercury sphygmomanometers are used frequently, and sometimes interchangeably, in epidemiologic studies. To determine whether there is a systematic difference between them, the authors measured systolic, fourth-phase, and fifth-phase diastolic blood pressures using both sphygmomanometers simultaneously in a series of six experiments. For most experiments, the system for simultaneous blood pressure measurements employed one cuff connected to both sphygmomanometers, which were carefully calibrated and read by two trained technicians using a double stethoscope. Order of use of the random-zero sphygmomanometer was randomly assigned, and technicians were blind to each others readings. At deflation rates of 2 mmHg/second, readings of the random-zero sphygmomanometer were systematically lower than those of the standard mercury sphygmomanometer –0.9 mmHg for systolic, –1.8 mmHg for fourth-phase, and –1.8 mmHg for fifth-phase diastolic blood pressures (all differences, p<0.001). The difference persisted after adjustment for subject age, sex, heart rate, blood pressure level, observer, and room temperature, and was present for varying deflation rates. However, by draining the residual mercury from a random-zero sphygmomanometer and using the instrument as if it were a standard mercury sphygmomanometer, much of the difference between the two was eliminated. This suggests that the mechanism for the difference relates to the increased height of mercury in the random-zero manometer tube. The authors conclude that the random-zero and standard mercury sphygmomanometers should not be used interchangeably in epidemiologic studies.

blood pressure; blood pressure determination; survey methods


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JAMAHome page
T. K. Welty, L. Freni-Titulaer, M. M. Zack, P. Weber, J. Sippel, N. Huete, J. Justice, D. Dever, and M. A. Murphy
Effects of Exposure to Salty Drinking Water in an Arizona Community: Cardiovascular Mortality, Hypertension Prevalence, and Relationships Between Blood Pressure and Sodium Intake
JAMA, February 7, 1986; 255(5): 622 - 626.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.