BP Readings in Noisy Market as Good as Quiet Office?

TOPLINE:

Blood pressure (BP) measurements taken in a public space — with and without ambient noise — were minimally different from readings obtained in a private, quiet office. Mean systolic BP varied by less than 1 mm Hg between settings. Although guidelines advise measuring BP in a quiet place, public venues may be valid options to screen for hypertension, researchers say.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a randomized crossover trial, with BP measurements taken in a quiet clinical research office and at a public food market near Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
• A total of 108 adults had their BP measured under three conditions: In the quiet office, at the noisy public market, and at the same market but wearing earplugs.
• The study population had a mean age of 56 years, and 45% had systolic BP of at least 130 mm Hg. Most participants were Black (84%), and 41% were women.
• The average noise level ranged from 74 dB in the market to 37 dB in the office.

TAKEAWAY:

• Mean systolic BP readings were 128.9 mm Hg in the office, 128.3 mm Hg at the market, and 129 mm Hg at the market with earplugs.
• Average diastolic BPs were 74.2 mm Hg, 75.9 mm Hg, and 75.7 mm Hg, respectively.

IN PRACTICE:

“Differences between BP readings in a loud public space and BP readings obtained in a quiet private office, as recommended, were small and not clinically relevant,” the authors of the study wrote. “These results suggest that public spaces are reasonable settings to conduct hypertension screening programs.”

SOURCE:

Tammy M. Brady, MD, PhD, with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was the corresponding author of the study. The paper was published online on January 28 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was conducted at a single center with a relatively small number of participants. Each participant progressed through the settings in a random order, but the number of participants assigned to each possible sequence turned out to be uneven. Sensitivity analyses found that the unequal distribution would not have affected the overall outcome, however.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by Resolve to Save Lives, which receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gates Philanthropy Partners, with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.