To Study variations in Blood Pressure (BP) Recording by Mercurial Sphygmomanometer and by LED (Non-Mercurial) BP Machine in Individuals in Sitting Position in Same Arm - A Cross Sectional Study in Guwahati City

Background: Arterial blood pressure ( BP ) is an important component of our body parameter and its maintenance to near normal levels is important for maintenance of internal milieu of our body .Mercurial BP instruments are in the process of being phased out due to environmental hazards posed by the liquid metal. Methods: After obtaining ethical clearance from institutional ethical committee a total of 100 individuals between 20-60 yrs of age of either gender were taken in the ambit of the study. The BP of the individuals were measured in the same arm in sitting position by Mercury Sphygmomanometer and by LED BP recording machine at room temperature after relaxing the subjects and readings were recorded accordingly in a profoma made beforehand . Prior to BP being taken the individuals were asked to sign the written consent and a brief history and physical examination was done. The BP readings with both Mercurial sphygmomanometer and LED instrument were tabulated andvariation of readings and their statistical significance was found out For statistical analysis the value of the BP recordings were presented as Mean? standard deviation. Statistical correlation between the recordings of BP by both methods were done and P-valueless than0.05 was considered as significant. Results: BP readings recorded with both the instruments were found to be similar( readings of Mercurial and LED BP instrument) as result showed non significant ?p? value 0.1001 (systolic)and 0.1180(diastolic) (pgreater than0.05) . The mean of the arterial pressure as recorded by mercurial and LED were similar. Conclusions: It was therefore concluded from the study, that recording of BP by Mercurial and LED instruments yielded almost similar readings. So, by phasing out mercurial BP instruments, LED instruments are a good option for measuring arterial BP and can be used.