Sphygmomanometers--an audit in general practice.
BACKGROUND: The accuracy of sphygmomanometers used in Australian general practice is unknown but potentially important. METHOD: We measured the accuracy of sphygmomanometers in general practice in the Hunter region of New South Wales using a gold standard. Practices were recruited by an advertisement in the division newsletter. RESULTS: Sixty practices (35%) volunteered. A total of 404 instruments were checked. Over 95% of sphygmomanometers were within 4 mmHg of gold standard sphygmomanometer across the clinical pressure range. Mercury sphygmomanometers were more accurate than aneroid (p<0.01). There was no significant association between accuracy and age, calibration, or visual inspection of the instruments. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated a high accuracy rate of the sphygmomanometers checked, especially those sphygmomanometers that were mercury.