Abstract

Objective: To assess the agreement between blood pressure readings from mercury and electronic sphygmomanometers.
Methodology: The study was conducted in the triage section of Qurayyat General Hospital, a secondary healthcare facility located in Qurayyat, Saudi Arabia, from September 2024 to February 2025. The research involved 750 randomly selected patients from the emergency room (56% male, 44% female). After a five-minute rest period, each participant's blood pressure was measured. The systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) readings from the two devices were compared using SPSS software, with the accuracy of the electronic monitors evaluated through Bland-Altman plots in accordance with the British Hypertension Society and AAMI guidelines.
Results: There were statistically significant differences between the devices. For SBP, the electronic device recorded a significantly higher mean value (126.83±16.20 mm Hg) compared to the mercury device (122.09±13.21 mm Hg). A significant, though smaller, difference was observed for DBP (electronic: 79.67±10.36 mm Hg vs. mercury: 78.59±9.09 mm Hg). The mean differences between the devices were 4.73 mm Hg for SBP and 1.08 mm Hg for DBP.
Conclusion: The electronic sphygmomanometer recorded significantly higher SBP values than the mercury standard.

Key words: Blood pressure determination, sphygmomanometers, mercury sphygmomanometer, digital sphygmomanometer.