Patient CareQuestion 5 of 100
A medical assistant uses a standard adult cuff on a patient with a very large upper arm. What effect is this most likely to have on the blood pressure reading?
a.The reading will be falsely low
b.The reading will be falsely high
c.The reading will be unaffected because cuff size does not matter
d.Only the pulse rate will be affected
Explanation
A cuff that is too narrow or too short for the arm requires extra pressure to compress the brachial artery, producing a falsely high reading. Conversely, an oversized cuff on a small arm produces a falsely low reading. Cuff bladder width should cover about 40 percent of arm circumference, so proper sizing is essential and does affect the result.
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