Biofeedback
and Self-Regulation, Vol.
21, No. 3, 1996
How Many Sphygmomanometric
Cuff Inflations
are Necessary to Obtain a Hemodynamic Baseline?
Mark Goodman
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Medicine and Department of Medicine. The Union Memorial
Hospital
Theodore M. Dembroski, and Jeffery H. Herbst
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore
County
The purpose of this study was to determine the minimum
number of consecutive blood pressure cuff inflations required
to obtain seated stable resting baseline measurements of
heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic
blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP).
Sixty male college students aged 18 to 31 years volunteered
as study subjects. Thirteen observations of HR, SBP, DBP,
and MAP were recorded at 90-second intervals for each subject
using a Critikon-Dinamap monitor. Stable readings for SBP
and MAP were obtained in 6.5 minutes or 3 to 5 cuff inflations
in the population tested. Using this procedure, additional
age- and gender-specific norms could be established for
normal and hypertensive subjects. Knowing the approximate
quantity and frequency of blood pressure cuff inflations
needed to generate baseline minimum measuremeants of HR,
SBP, DBP, and MAP will be helpful in studies of cardiovascular
reactivity, as well as for clinical and psychophysiologic
treatment of hypertension.
Descriptor Key Words: hemodynamic baseline; cardiovascular reactivity; blood pressure.
1. Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by NHLBI grant No. HL-36027. The
authors are especially grateful to Adrienne Arca and Chrysty DeWitt for recording the
physiological data, Terri Harold for her assistance in preparing the manuscript, Dr.
Marguerite Moran for her insightful comments on an earlier version, and Dr. Elijah Sanders
for his direction on this project.
2. Address all correspondence to Mark Goodman, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Medicine, The Union Memorial Hospital, 201 East University Parkway, Baltimore,
Maryland 21218-2895. e-mail: GOODMAN@UMBC2.UMBC.EDU.
|