An evaluation of the usefulness of Rodbard's sphygmomanometric method in cardiovascular epidemiology

Roberts, Patricia Margaret (1983) An evaluation of the usefulness of Rodbard's sphygmomanometric method in cardiovascular epidemiology. Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that Rodbard's method of noninvasively determining the anacrotic slope of the brachial artery pressure pulse wave is useful in cardiovascular epidemiology. -- The materials were the raw records obtained for two groups of subjects aged 55 years living an Göteborg in 1969/70, and the cardiovascular disease information registered for these subjects in the following ten years. The method of checking on the hypothesis was to determine if there was a significant relationship between any of the eleven variables used to quantify the anacrotic slope obtained for each subject and his cardiovascular history in the follow-up period. Because an understanding of the physiological mechanisms was essential for the correct interpretation of any significant results, these mechanisms were evaluated by first submitting the variables to factor analysis and covariance analysis. -- The means and the factor score coefficients of the variables were not found to be related to the development of cardiovascular disease in the follow-up period. However, a significant relationship was found between one pair of vari-ables in combination (systolic pressure and the gradient of the initial, linear portion of the anacrotic slope) and the subject's risk of experiencing a stroke in the follow-up period. -- It was concluded that Rodbard's method has the potential to be useful in cardiovascular epidemiology because one member of the pair of variables determined to be of value (the gradient of the initial, linear portion of the anacrotic slope) can be easily obtained only by Rodbard's method. -- Two important additional conclusions arose from the use of factor analysis and covariance analysis: it is possible to estimate peripheral resistance noninvasively where systolic pressure and the gradient of the initial, linear portion of the anacrotic slope are known, and it is not necessary to correct the variables for differences in heart rate.

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