Journal of North Khorasan

Abstract Background and Objective: Sphygmomanometers are instruments nessesery for the basis of blood pressure measurement, it is well established that this device especially when is used in general practice may often be inaccurate and may cause errors in the measurement of accurate blood pressure. In this study we carried out an analysis of all aneroid and mercury sphygmomanometers currently in use in Sabzevar hospitals for their accuracy and physical condition. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, all sphygmomanometers currently in use in Sabzevar hospitals were tested. A total 63 sphygmomanometers were compared with a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Deviation of the hand of the aneroid sphygmomanometers and the mercury level of the mercury sphygmomanometers at rest were studied. The drop in pressure from 300mmHg was studied after one minute. SPSS 11.5 software and descriptive statistics were used to describe the data. Results: 50 (79.4%) out of 63 sphygmomanometers were not level of reference zero at rest. 88.9% of the sphygmomanometers had a pressure loss of more than 15 mmHg in one minute, when the cuff was inflated to 300mmHg around a can – with a circumference of about 32 cm. the mean of difference between the sphygmomanometers and the standard sphygmomanometer in the 100 mm level was 6.67 mmHg. 54% of the sphygmomanometers showed a difference of more than 4 mmHg with the standard sphygmomanometer. Conclusion: Most in use sphygmomanometers were not accurate and must either be calibrated or must be out of use. We recommend that all hospitals need to have procedures in place for the regular calibration of their sphygmomanometers.