Systolic blood pressure and arm circumference are the best predictor of arterial occlusion pressure in young adults

Abstract

Introduction: Low-intensity resistance training combined with blood flow restriction has shown to be effective in musculoskeletal rehabilitation. The appropriate arterial occlusion pressure (AOP) to induce partial blood flow restriction has been suggested through regression equations. Objective: This study sough to investigate whether limb fat-free mass and fat mass can be used as predictors of AOP in the upper limbs in young adults. Methods: Vascular Doppler ultrasound was performed in the proximal right arm of 49 healthy individuals of both sexes (aged 18-30 years) to determine AOP in the brachial artery. Segmental fat mass and fat-free mass were estimated by multifrequency bioelectrical impedance. The best fit model to predict AOP was tested by including the independent variables one by one in a hierarchical regression analysis. Results: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) alone explained 54.6% of the variation in AOP. Included in different models in combination with SBP, arm circumference (8.1%), body mass index (7.9%), and arm fat-free mass (7.1%) composed similar models in terms of goodness of fit. Arm fat mass (1.7%), in turn, did not add predictive strength to the model. Conclusion: SBP and arm circumference may be used to estimate the cuff pressure to induce blood flow restriction in blood flow restriction therapy.