Concept of inter-arm blood pressure: A Strong positive relationship with CVD?
Iran: Hypertension is currently a substantial public health problem and needs attention. A new cross-sectional published in the Scientific Reports suggests a strong positive relationship between BP differences between the arms and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
"Inter-arm blood pressure (BP) could therefore be considered a marker of the prevention and diagnosis of CVD for physicians," the researchers wrote in their study.
The current research data is related to Fasa Adults Cohort Study (FACS) data, where 10,126 participants aged 35–70 were enrolled in a prospective Fasa Persian Adult Cohort at 22 cohort sites in Iran.
The key findings of this study were:
- With an increase in the inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference (SBPD) between the arms, the prevalence of CVD is increased to 11.73%.
- The prevalence of ≥ 15 mmHg inter-arm systolic and diastole blood pressure difference (inter-arm SBPD and inter-arm DBPD) were 8.08% and 2.61%.
- Every 5 mm increase in the inter-arm SBPD increased the risk of vascular events by 12%.
- The prevalence of inter-arm BP differences in total subjects, it was found that 12.94% (n = 1144) had a difference of ≥ 10 mm Hg (systolic BP), and about 5.04% (n = 511) were at high risk for CVD events.
These findings highlight the potential benefits of measuring the blood pressure from both arms when measuring blood pressure for the first time, and detecting the difference in blood pressure between the arms can help predict the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in the future.
The author wrote, “The risk of cardiovascular diseases in women is increased compared to men due to diabetes, blood pressure, and obesity”.
“Inter-arm blood pressure could be considered a marker for the prevention and diagnosis for physicians associated with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity,” they added.
Reference:
S Mehdi, Amiri Z et al. Association between inter-arm blood pressure difference and cardiovascular disease: result from baseline Fasa Adults Cohort Study. Scientific Reports.13, Article number: 9648 (2023).
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