Use of noninvasive procedures in the cardiovascular risk assessment of hypertensive and normotensive individuals.

Background: Arterial hypertension is associated with a high prevalence of vascular alterations. The use of noninvasive procedures to assess peripheral arterial diseases in the ranking of cardiovascular risks has been increasingly valued in clinical practice and should be adopted in nursing.

Objective: To identify the cardiovascular risk of hypertensive and normotensive individuals through the use of different noninvasive procedures to assess the vascular function and integrity: ankle-brachial index, pulse pressure, and delta brachial-brachial and delta ankle-brachial indexes.