Accuracy of the oscillometric method to measure blood pressure in children

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze the substitution of the standard auscultatory method by the oscillometric blood pressure monitor, independently of the validity of the intraarterial blood pressure measurement. The accuracy of the automatic oscillometric monitor was compared to the auscultatory mercury manometer blood pressure measurement in apparently healthy school age children. METHODS: A device able to perform 3 simultaneous readings are used: one reading by the monitor and the others by two "blind" observers. We studied 72 school age children with the following characteristics: mean age 9.5 (6.1-16.1) and 39 males (54.2%). RESULTS: The difference for the systolic and diastolic blood pressure obtained by the monitor was in average + 6.2 mmHg and + 10.0 mmHg, respectively, when compared to the observer's readings. There was neither a good correlation nor a good agreement between the two observers and the monitor in the blood pressure determination. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the substitution of the standard auscultatory method for the non-invasive oscillometric method to measure blood pressure in school age children can not be generally recommended.