Minerva Cardioangiologica 2020 Jun 10

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4725.20.05288-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The prevalence of masked hypertension in a group of young healthy soldiers

Ahmed M. ABUOSA ¹, Abdulhalim J. KINSARA ¹ ✉, Ayman H. ELSHIEKH ¹, Mohammed B. ABRAR ^{2, 3}

¹ Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, COM-WR, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; ² Princess Norah Oncology Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; ³ King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: To assess the prevalence of masked hypertension (MH) in young Saudi National Guard soldiers based on 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).
METHODS: A prospective study of 196 soldiers, aged between 21-50 years, without a history of hypertension or antihypertensive medication use. Each participant was fitted with a 24h- ABPM. Patients were considered to have MH if the office blood pressure (OBP) was <140/90 mm Hg and the 24h-ABPM average was ≥130/80 mm Hg.
RESULTS: The mean age of the MH group was 34.5 years compared to 32.4 years of the normotensive group. By pairing the average OBP with the 24h-ABPM, the prevalence of MH was estimated to be 29/196 (14.8%), with the SBP (systolic blood pressure) and DPB MH (diastolic blood pressure) prevalence 12.8% and 7.7%, respectively. For the systolic blood pressure, the OBP compared with the 24h-ABPM was 120.0 ± 8.1 vs. 134.7 ± 4.5 (p < 0.001) and for the diastolic blood pressure, 70.7 ± 7.0 vs. 79.9 ± 4.2 (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MH among this sample of healthy military soldiers was 14.8%. It is important not to rely solely on the OBP and to consider MH when screening for hypertension in apparently healthy individuals.

KEY WORDS: Masked hypertension; Ambulatory BP monitoring; Office blood pressure