Abstract
Background:
Hypertension is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Technical quality of sphygmomanometers is a prerequisite for the correct measurement of arterial pressure.
Objectives:
To evaluate sphygmomanometers available in emergency services in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Methods:
We performed a cross-sectional, observational, non-interventional study to evaluate characteristics of the sphygmomanometers available in adult emergency services of public and private hospitals in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We evaluated 337 sphygmomanometers of 25 hospitals - 15 (of 16) public hospitals and 10 (of 12) private hospitals.
Results:
Twenty-six percent (88/337) of devices were considered inadequate regarding the INMETRO (National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology) standards, 39.2% (132/337) for calibration dates, and 54% (188/337) for the mismatching between cuff's and device's brands. In 13 of 25 hospitals (52%), there were no spare cuffs in different sizes for different arm circumferences. Higher adequacy was found for aneroid and mercury sphygmomanometers used in private hospitals (p = 0.038 and p < 0.001, respectively) and electronic devices used in public hospitals (p < 0.001) compared with others.
Conclusion:
Seventy-eight percent of sphygmomanometers available in emergency services had technical inadequacies, and half of these services had no spare cuffs in different sizes available. These findings serve as a warning of the conditions of the equipment used in healthcare services provided to the general population in Brazil.
Keywords:
Hypertension; Sphygmomanometers; Emergency Medical Services; Hospitals, Public; Hospitals, Private; Equipment Failure