EMOTIONAL FLUCTUATIONS OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN ADOLESCENTS: INFLUENCE OF THE REPETITION OF THE MEASUREMENT

Background. The optimal methodology to measure blood pressure (BP) in children remains controversial. Particularly relevant is the concern that anxiety may trigger a rising in BP during the first measurement, while the second and/or the third reading is lower because the child is more relaxed. However, experimental data concerning the pattern of repeated readings of BP are almost non existent. Therefore we accurately examined, by a repeated measures ANOVA design, the pressor response of a large group of healthy children, during the adolescent growth, to three consecutive BP measurements separated by one minute. Method. From a larger group of 719 well-being children aged 5-15 years examined in our hospital between July 2004 and March 2005, a cohort of 145 age-eligible children (11-14 years) was selected for this study. In each subject, BP readings were carried out in the supine position placing size-appropriate cuffies on the right arm and by making use of an oscillometric monitor, whose reliability is unaffected by the enviromental noise. Anthropometric parameters also were acquired. Data were analysed with a PC based statistic package (SPSS for Windows) testing the within-subjects differences. Results and conclusions. Data from the study are shown in the figure.