Anxiety moderates cardiovascular responses to painful stimuli during sphygmomanometry

Sphygmomanometry is the most common technique of blood pressure (BP) determination. We were interested in the role of anxiety as a predictor of BP changes induced by painful stimuli during sphygmomanometry. We studied 141 normotensive healthy subjects who were asked to complete a State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) prior to the experiment. BP was determined continuously and non-invasively using a Finapres device (Penaz-technique) and by arm sphygmomanometry. Five sphygmomanometric measurements took place, during the fourth the arm cuff was inflated to 300 mmHg (unpredictable to the subject), the others were done with a pressure of 175 mmHg. State and trait anxiety (STAI X1 and X2) correlated positively with diastolic BP changes during inflation of the arm cuff (state anxiety: r = 0.26, P < 0.05; trait anxiety: r = 0.20, P < 0.05). Our results suggest that anxiety may have an impact on cardiovascular responses following painful stimuli.