Ethnic differences in inter‐ and intra‐situational blood pressure variation: Comparisons among African‐American, Hispanic‐American, Asian‐American, and European‐American women

Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare the daily inter‐ and intra‐situational ambulatory blood pressure (BP) variation by ethnicity in women. Methods The African‐American ( N  = 82; Age = 39.7 + 8.9), Hispanic‐American ( N  = 25; age = 37.5 + 9.4), Asian‐American ( N  = 22; Age = 35.2 + 8.6), and European‐American ( N  = 122; Age = 37.2+ 9.4) women in this study all worked in similar positions at two major medical centers in NYC. Each wore an ambulatory monitor during the course of one mid‐week workday. Proportional BP changes from work or home to sleep, intra‐situational BP variation (standard deviation [SD]) and mean situational BP levels were compared among the groups using ANOVA models. Results African‐American and Asian‐American women had significantly smaller proportional work‐sleep systolic changes than either European‐ ( P  < 0.05) or Hispanic‐American ( P  < 0.05) women, but the Asian‐American women's changes tended to be smallest. The variability (SD) of diastolic BP at work was significantly greater among African‐ and Hispanic‐American women compared to Asian‐ and European‐American women (all P  < 0.05). African‐American women had greater sleep variability than European‐American women ( P  < 0.05). Asian‐American women had the highest level of sleep diastolic pressure (all comparisons P  < 0.05). Conclusions African‐American and Asian‐American women have an attenuated proportional BP decline from waking environments to sleep compared to European‐American and Hispanic‐American women. Asian‐American nocturnal BP may be elevated relative to all other groups. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:932–935, 2016. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc.