**1. Introduction**

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a notable cause of death globally [1]. One main contributing factor to cardiovascular disease development is arteriosclerosis and it is the key cause of morbidity and mortality [2]. Blood pressure (BP) measurement is the most commonly utilized method of assessing arteriosclerosis activity [3]. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) difference between arms (inter-arm difference/IAD) is one risk marker that is easy to measure since it does not require extra equipment

and seems acceptable to patients. Circumstances in which differences in BP were found in clinical settings were infrequent [4, 5].

When undetected, varying measurements of BP between arms can lead to inaccuracies in the interpretation and management of blood pressure consequently putting individuals in an avoidable risk through sub-optimal blood pressure control [6]. Furthermore it has been reported that systolic BP difference of 10 mmHg or greater between both arms was related with cardiovascular risk/complications [7, 8]. Moreover an inter arm difference is mostly encountered with differences in systolic of 10 mmHg or greater prevalent in 11% of hypertensive patients, 7% diabetic patients as well as 4% of the general population [5].

Past studies have discovered a rise in the incidence of big inter arm difference in hypertensive [9] and diabetic patients [10]. The association between inter arm difference and atherosclerosis-related diseases, such as coronary artery disease [11], and other peripheral artery disease were also reported [12, 13]. Nevertheless, the majority of these studies took place in populations that were Westernized/ urbanized with little sample sizes and comprising of certain disease groups. The prevalence of selected cardiovascular risk factors has been reported in young adults at Ellisras including BP/hypertension [14], but the inter arm BP difference was not investigated. Furthermore as far as we are aware, such a study was not reported among black South Africans in Limpopo Province. Therefore the study aimed to determine the blood pressure difference between arms and its association to cardiovascular risk in young adults at Ellisras.
