Is the Measurement of Blood Pressure by Automatic Monitor in the South American Pediatric Population Accurate? SAYCARE Study

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2018 Mar:26 Suppl 1:S41-S46. doi: 10.1002/oby.22119.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to test the validity of an automatic oscillometric device to measure the blood pressure (BP) in children (n = 191) and adolescents (n = 127) aged 3 to 18 years.

Methods: Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) levels were measured simultaneous by automatic device and mercury column with Y-connection. To verify the validity, Bland-Altman plots and limits of agreement of 95% (95% LOA), specificity and sensitivity of the device, and the grade of British Hypertension Society (BHS) criteria were used.

Results: The monitor measurements demonstrated lower measurement bias (mean difference [95% LOA]): 1.4 (-9.9 to 12.8) mmHg in children and 4.3 (-7.8 to 16.5) mmHg in adolescents for SBP. For DBP, it was 2.2 (-7.4 to 11.7) mmHg in children and 1.4 (-8.4 to 11.1) mmHg in adolescents. The sensitivity in children was 21.4 (95% CI = 16.3-26.6), and in adolescents, it was 20.0 (95% CI = 13.2-26.8); the specificity was 95.9 (95% CI = 93.4-98.4) in children and 100.0 (95% CI = 100.0-100.0) in adolescents. The monitor-tested ratings are Grade B for SBP in children and SBP and DBP in adolescents and Grade C for DBP in children.

Conclusions: The automatic monitor presented high values of specificity and lower values of sensitivity to the diagnosis of HBP; however, it can be considered accurate (lower measurement bias) and valid for epidemiological and clinical practice in accordance with BHS criteria.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Blood Pressure Determination / instrumentation*
  • Blood Pressure Determination / methods
  • Blood Pressure Monitors* / standards
  • Blood Pressure*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Electronic Data Processing
  • Ethnicity
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / diagnosis*
  • Hypertension / epidemiology
  • Hypertension / physiopathology
  • Male
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / instrumentation
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • South America / epidemiology