Using semi-automated oscillometric blood pressure measurement in diabetic patients and their offspring

To determine whether a semi-automatic oscillometric blood pressure (BP) mon itor Dinamap 1846SX (DIN) can replace the standard mercury sphygmomanometer (SMS) for BP measurements in diabetic patients and their offspring, we com pared SMS with DIN in 105 diabetic patients and their families. Their mean age was 50.6 (range 24-86) years, of whom 41 had diabetes mellitus (DM), 32 impaired glucose tolerance and 32 non-DM. After resting quietly for 10 min , their right arm BP were measured twice with each device at random and wit h 1-min intervals between each measurement. Agreement between measurements was tested by plotting the differences between the methods against means an d by intraclass correlation coefficient (r(1)). The DIN was also evaluated by the criteria of American Association for the Advancement of Medical Inst rumentation (AAMI), the British Hypertension Society (BHS) criteria and cli nical criteria of O'Brien. All measurements by DIN [first readings or avera ged readings of duplicate measurements of systolic BP (SBP) or diastolic BP (DBP)] satisfied the AAMI criteria and had good agreement with SMS (r(1) = .951 for SEP and r(1) = .905 for DBP). The first readings of systolic BP m easured by DIN vs. SMS failed to satisfy the criteria by O'Brien and reache d BHS grade C level. Other measurements passed the limits of O'Brien and re ached BHS grade A or B. In conclusion, averaged readings of duplicate BP me asurements by DIN are interchangeable with that by SMS in Chinese diabetic patients and their offspring. Only one single DIN measurement is not accept able for clinical application. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights re served.