Abstract: Objective · To investigate the prevalence and related factors of abnormal four-limb blood pressure difference in elderly people in Shanghai. Methods · 2016 to 2018, the elderly aged 60 years and over in Zhaoxiang Town, Qingpu District, Shanghai were selectedcluster sampling. General data was collected. Height, body mass, and blood pressure were measured. Fasting venous blood was taken for routine blood test, blood glucose, blood lipids, serum creatinine and other biochemical indicators. Four limb blood pressures were measured simultaneouslyVascular Profiler-1000 device, which ankle-brachial index, inter-arm systolic pressure difference and inter-ankle systolic pressure difference were calculated. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the related factors of abnormal four-limb blood pressure difference. Results · A total of 4 090 subjects were enrolled with an average age of (68.5±7.6) years, of which 44.6% were males. The people with hypertension and diabetes mellitus accounted for 60.1% and 8.6%, respectively. The prevalence of ankle-brachial index ≤0.90, inter-arm systolic pressure difference ≥15 mmHg (1 mmHg0.133 kPa) and inter-ankle systolic pressure difference ≥15 mmHg were 2.7%, 1.9%, and 8.4%, respectively. After incorporating age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, total cholesterol and triacylglycerol, the results of multiple Logistic regression analysis showed that age and hypertension were the related factors of the three indicators for abnormal four-limb blood pressure difference. The related factors of ankle-brachial index≤ 0.90 also included diabetes mellitus, total cholesterol and smoking; the related factors of inter-arm systolic pressure difference ≥15 mmHg also included BMI; the related factors of inter-ankle systolic pressure difference ≥15 mmHg also included BMI and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion · Abnormal four-limb blood pressure difference is prevalent among the elderly in Shanghai, of which old age, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity and smoking are risk factors.

Key words: four-limb blood pressure, ankle-brachial index, inter-arm blood pressure difference, inter-ankle blood pressure difference, elderly