Automated oscillometric blood pressure versus auscultatory blood pressure as a predictor of carotid intima-medial thickness in male firefighters

We examined the relationship between carotid intima - medial thickness (IMT) and blood pressure ( BP) measured either by auscultation or by oscillometry in 176 firefighters. The automated oscillometric BP readings were related to carotid IMT (systolic P = 0.023, beta = 0.407 and diastolic P = 0.007, beta = - 0.372, respectively) but auscultatory BP readings were not related ( systolic P = 0.859, beta = - 0.028 and diastolic P = 0.754, beta = - 0.04) in a multiple linear regression analysis. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that automated oscillometric BP better relates to cardiovascular prognosis than auscultatory BP but the clinical implications of this hypothesis needs to be tested in a definitive study.