
Assessment of the Relationship Between Ambient Temperature and Home Blood Pressure in Patients From a Web-Based Synchronous Telehealth Care Program: Retrospective Study
Author(s) -
ChingChang Huang,
Ming-Fong Chen,
ChiSheng Hung,
JenKuang Lee,
Tse-Pin Hsu,
HuiWen Wu,
Pao-Yu Chuang,
Ming-Fong Chen,
YiLwun Ho
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
jmir. journal of medical internet research/journal of medical internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.446
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1439-4456
pISSN - 1438-8871
DOI - 10.2196/12369
Subject(s) - telehealth , telemedicine , medicine , blood pressure , retrospective cohort study , world wide web , medical emergency , computer science , health care , economics , economic growth
Background Decreased ambient temperature significantly increases office blood pressure, but few studies have evaluated the effect of ambient temperature on home blood pressure. Objective We aimed to investigate the relationship between short-term ambient temperature exposure and home blood pressure. Methods We recruited patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases from a telehealth care program at a university-affiliated hospital. Blood pressure was measured at home by patients or their caregivers. We obtained hourly meteorological data for Taipei (temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) for the same time period from the Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan. Results From 2009 to 2013, we enrolled a total of 253 patients. Mean patient age was 70.28 (SD 13.79) years, and 66.0% (167/253) of patients were male. We collected a total of 110,715 home blood pressure measurements. Ambient temperature had a negative linear effect on all 3 home blood pressure parameters after adjusting for demographic and clinical factors and antihypertensive agents. A 1°C decrease was associated with a 0.5492-mm Hg increase in mean blood pressure, a 0.6841-mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure, and a 0.2709-mm Hg increase in diastolic blood pressure. This temperature effect on home blood pressure was less prominent in patients with diabetes or hypertension. Antihypertensive agents modified this negative effect of temperature on home blood pressure to some extent, and angiotensin receptor blockers had the most favorable results. Conclusions Short-term exposure to low ambient temperature significantly increased home blood pressure in patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases. Antihypertensive agents may modify this effect.