Research has shown that can happen for all kinds of reasons. The cuff size may be incorrect. A patient's legs are crossed or dangling from the exam table. Simply the stress of being in the clinic, what's known as white coat hypertension, can spike the numbers.
The inflated readings might be substantial enough to even lead to a misdiagnosis of hypertension and decisions to start medication, says Dr. Tammy Brady.
The trial...found that simply deviating from the guidelines for arm position can produce an overestimate of a patient's blood pressure.
People take blood pressure screening for granted, says Brady. But a lot of decisions are made based on what that reading is on the device.
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