The effects of crossing legs on blood pressure

^ Abstract: Background: Many factors influence on the individual`s blood pressure. Some guidelines on measuring blood pressure specify that the patient should keep his feet flat on the floor. Objective: To determine the effects of crossing legs on blood pressure. Methods: This experimental study was performed on 100 randomly _ selected hypertensive male patients referred to the clinics in Jiroft (2001) .The first 50 patients positioned their feet flat on the floor while their pressure was measured. After 3 minutes the blood pressure was measured again with the patient’s legs crossed. The procedure was reversed for the second 50patients. The data were analyzed on the basis of variance analysis. Findings: The findings indicated that the average of systolic blood pressure increased from 146.27 ( flat feet ) to 154.82 ( crossed legs ) and diastolic blood pressure increased from 79.79 ( flat feet ) to 83.49 ( crossed legs ) ( P < 0.0001 ). Conclusion: Patients should be instructed to have their feet flat on the floor while measuring blood pressure to eliminate a potential source of error.