Blood Pressure Cuff Sizes for Adults in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015–2020

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Hypertens
• Personal Author:
  Jackson, Sandra L ; Gillespie, Cathleen ; Shimbo, Daichi ; Rakotz, Michael ; Wall, Hilary K.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND:
  
  Hypertension, defined as blood pressure (BP) ≥130/80 mm Hg or antihypertensive medication use, affects approximately half of US adults, and appropriately-sized BP cuffs are important for accurate BP measurement and hypertension management.
  
  METHODS:
  
  This cross-sectional study analyzed 13,038 US adults (≥18y) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-March 2020 cycles. Recommended BP cuff sizes were categorized based on mid-arm circumference: small adult (≤26 cm), adult (>26 to ≤34 cm), large adult (>34 to ≤44 cm), and extra-large adult (>44 cm). Analyses were weighted and proportions were extrapolated to the US population.
  
  RESULTS:.
  
  Among US adults (246 million), recommended cuff sizes were: 6% (16 million) small adult, 51% adult (125 million), 40% large adult (98 million), and 3% extra-large adult (8 million). Among adults with hypertension (116 million), large or extra-large cuffs were needed by over half (51%) overall, including 65% of those aged 18–34 and 84% of those with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). By race/ethnicity, the proportion needing a large or extra-large cuff was 57% of non-Hispanic Black adults, 54% of Hispanic adults, 51% of non-Hispanic White adults, and 23% of non-Hispanic Asian adults. Approximately 40% of adults with hypertension in Medicare needed a large or extra-large cuff, compared to 54% for private insurance and 53% for Medicaid.
  
  CONCLUSIONS:.
  
  Over half of US adults with hypertension need a large or extra-large BP cuff.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Adult Aged Blood Pressure Cross-Sectional Studies Disease Management Humans Hypertension Medicare Nutrition Surveys United States
• Source:
  Am J Hypertens. 35(11):923-928
• Pubmed ID:
  36066190
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10851131
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:98e464a68458f188ff4b7265d58b72f0848479fb3dac72012ac9e3da9a7ef76c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/148995/cdc_148995_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 122.92 KB ]