Blood pressure is exclusively measured on the upper arm due to standardization and accuracy
Evidence consistently shows that upper arm blood pressure measurement remains more accurate and standardized than alternative sites like the wrist, which tend to overestimate readings and exhibit wider error margins.
The retrieved papers comparing upper arm and wrist blood pressure measurement consistently demonstrate that upper arm measurements are more accurate and reliable, whereas wrist devices tend to overestimate blood pressure and lack diagnostic interchangeability. No papers refute the claim.
Blood pressure is predominantly measured on the upper arm because it is generally more accurate and standardized than wrist-based measurement.
D. R. Emerick. An Evaluation of Non-Invasive Blood Pressure (NIBP) Monitoring on the Wrist: Comparison with Upper Arm NIBP Measurement. 2002. https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057x0203000108
Demonstrates that wrist blood pressure measurements consistently overestimate pressures compared to the traditional upper arm site, highlighting the accuracy advantage of the arm.
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Attar ET. Wrist-based wearable oscillometric blood pressure monitoring during Ramadan: a comparative study with standard devices.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2026.1655897
Shows that wrist-based wearable blood pressure monitors exhibit wide limits of agreement and are not interchangeable with standard upper-arm devices for clinical diagnosis.
Ahmed Abdulwahid. Comparative Accuracy of Automated Upper Arm and Wrist Blood Pressure Devices: A Comparison with Intra-arterial line. 2025. https://doi.org/10.36330/kmj.v21.i1.18997
Finds that automated upper-arm devices track much closer to intra-arterial measurements than wrist devices, which show significantly higher error margins.
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