According to an analysis of ten widely used at-home blood pressure (BP) monitors, 7% of US adults, or over 17 million people, do not fit the arm cuffs properly. According to the researchers in Hypertension, arm cuffs that are one size too big or too small can cause blood pressure readings to be 5–10 mm Hg over or underestimated.
Of all the devices they examined, the cuffs fit upper arms with circumferences ranging from 22 to 42 cm (8.7 to 16.5 in). The researchers compared arm circumference information from the nearly 14,000 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, between 2015 and 2020.
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The researchers discovered that nearly 12% of Black people, 2% of Asian adults, 5% of Hispanic adults, and 7% of White adults were beyond the typical cuff size range. According to the researchers, this implies that millions of people—particularly Black adults—cannot use at-home monitors without purchasing a larger arm cuff.
“Addressing this unrecognized disparity in device design is crucial for quality and equitable hypertension diagnosis and management integrating home BP monitoring,” they wrote.
