Knowledge of correct blood pressure measurement procedures among medical and nursing students

This study reports on the level of knowledge about correct blood pressure (BP) measurement procedures among 175 third-year and 176 sixth-year students at a medical faculty and 58 third-year students at a nursing college. Only 51.8% of all students thought that they knew how to measure BP correctly (28.6% in the third year and 61.9% in the sixth year at the medical faculty and 91.4% at the nursing college). Among sixth-year medical students, 12.5% knew the appropriate cuff size, 35% that the stethoscope diaphragm should not be placed under the cuff, and 43% that the cuff deflation rate affects BP measurement. Among nursing students, 33% knew the appropriate cuff size, 22% that an outpatient's BP should be measured more than once during each visit, and 55% that a diagnosis of hypertension can only be made if the BP is elevated on more than one visit.