[Blood pressure assessed through oscillometric and auscultatory method before and after exercise in the elderly]

Different methods of measuring blood pressure (BP) have been used in clinical and scientific evaluations. However, the methods employed have constraints and peculiarities to be considered.

To evaluate whether similar BP values are obtained in elderly hypertensive patients undergoing resistance exercises when using the oscillometric (Omron-HEM-431) and auscultatory methods (mercury sphygmomanometer).

Sixteen elderly hypertensive patients underwent three randomized experimental sessions with different volumes: control (C: 40 minutes), exercise 1 (E1: 20 minutes) and exercise 2 sessions (E2: 40 minutes). BP was measured simultaneously through two methods every 5 minutes for 20 minutes before the sessions and during 60 minutes after them.

In the pre-intervention period, there was concordance between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure measurements (DBP) obtained through two methods, as well as a high overall concordance after the sessions (Lin's concordance coefficient = 0.82 and 0.81, respectively). Greater concordance in DBP was found after the control session than after exercise sessions. The difference between the measurements obtained between the two methods was greater for DBP than for SBP after all sessions (p < 0.001). Regardless of the method, SBP and DBP fell in the first 60 minutes after the exercises.

The auscultatory and oscillometric methods were consistent before and after the control and exercise sessions. However, greater differences were found in DBP than in SBP. The latter was very similar between methods.