Survey of 23 Nordic university hospitals showed that 77% lacked written procedures for measuring and interpreting blood pressure in infants

• Published in: Acta Paediatrica
• Main Authors: Granlund, Peder Annæus, Strand Ødegaard, Jostein, Skjerven, Håvard Ove, Lødrup Carlsen, Karin C, Hanséus, Katarina, Rögnvaldsson, Ingolfur, Sunnegårdh, Jan, Turanlahti, Maila, Holmstrøm, Henrik
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10852/67582; http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-70746; https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.14492

Aim: This study determined the use of standardised procedures for infant noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) measurements in the Nordic countries and aimed to identify factors included in the standardisation and interpretation of NIBP measurements in infants. Methods: A cross‐sectional electronic questionnaire survey was sent to 84 physicians in all 23 university hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland and was completed from February to March 2017. The survey contained respondent characteristics, the presence and description of standardised procedures for NIBP measurements, daily practice of NIBP measurements and methodological considerations and interpretation of NIBP measurements in a healthy six‐month‐old child. Results: We received responses from 55 of 84 physicians working in all 23 Nordic university hospitals, in paediatric cardiology (n = 22), general paediatrics (n = 16), paediatric nephrology (n = 14) and other fields (n = 3). Less than a quarter (23%) said their hospital issued specific NIBP procedures relating to infants and they referred to 19 different sources of information. The factors that were most commonly assessed for interpretation were age (100%), arousal state (78%) and cuff size (76%). Conclusion: Most of the university hospital units treating children lacked age‐specific written procedures for measuring and interpreting infant NIBP, and there is a strong need for common Nordic guidelines.