Open AccessPrevalence of Masked Hypertension in African Americans
Author(s) -
Larsen Timothy R.,
Gelaye Alehegn,
Waanbah Barryton,
Assad Hadeel,
Daloul Yara,
Williams Frances,
Williams Michael,
Steigerwalt Susan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/jch.12418
Subject(s) - medicine , blood pressure , masked hypertension , body mass index , ambulatory blood pressure , ambulatory , obesity , population , cardiology , pediatrics , demography , environmental health , sociology
Masked hypertension ( MH ), the presence of normal office blood pressure ( BP ) with elevated ambulatory pressure, has been shown to correlate with organ damage. Population‐based studies from Europe and Asia estimate a prevalence of 8.5% to 15.8%. Two small studies in African Americans estimate a prevalence >40%. Therefore, the authors utilized ambulatory BP monitoring ( ABPM ) to identify the prevalence of MH in our African American population. Pressure was recorded every 30 minutes while awake and every 60 minutes while asleep. Patients with 24‐hour average BP ≥135/85 mm Hg, awake average BP ≥140/90 mm Hg, or asleep average BP ≥125/75 mm Hg had MH . Seventy‐three participates had valid data. The mean age of the patients was 49.8 years, mean body mass index was 31.1, and 39 patients (53%) were women. Thirty‐three patients (45.2%) had MH . Patients with MH had higher clinic systolic BP and trended toward higher BMI values . The authors corroborated the high prevalence of MH in African Americans. ABPM is critical to diagnose hypertension in African Americans, particularly in those with high‐normal clinic pressure and obesity.