Clinical accuracy of a low cost portable blood pressure device in pregnancy and pre-eclampsia: the Nissei DS-400

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy cause significant maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in developing countries. This study evaluated the accuracy of the Nissei DS-400, a low cost blood pressure (BP) device, in pregnancy according to the British Hypertension Society protocol. Forty-five pregnant women (15 with pre-eclampsia), were recruited from a large teaching hospital. Nine sequential same-arm BP measurements were taken from each woman by trained observers, alternating between mercury sphygmomanometry and the device. The Nissei DS-400 achieved the highest accuracy grade (A/A) in all subjects (n=45) and in pregnancy alone (n=30). The mean difference +/- standard deviation between the standard and the device in pregnancy were -1.0 +/- 5.1mmHg and -1.1 +/- 5.0mmHg for systolic and diastolic BP, respectively, and -2.6 +/- 5.9mmHg and -3.4 +/- 5.8mmHg in all subjects. The Nissei-DS 400 can be recommended for clinical use in pregnancy and has potential as a good screening tool for pre-eclampsia in low resource settings.