Publication:

White-coat hypertension by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in individuals with elevated office blood pressure and correlation with co-morbidities

Background White-coat hypertension characterized by elevated office blood pressure and normal ambulatory blood pressure monitor measurements has an incidence of 10-30%. It is considered that white-coat hypertension is not entirely benign condition and progression to hypertension has been identified in some cases.

Methods 197 consecutive subjects with elevated office blood pressure measurements were evaluated by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and assessed for co-morbidities.

Results Of the 197 subjects evaluated 138 (70.05%) had hypertension and 59 (29.95%) had white-coat hypertension. Diabetics comprised of 21.73% of hypertensive individuals and 25.42% of white-coat hypertension individuals (p value 0.57). Similarly, when assessed for body mass index and dyslipidemia there was no statistically significant difference in both the groups.

Conclusions White-coat hypertension is a common condition and proper assessment by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to diagnose the condition can avoid unnecessary antihypertensive medication. Identification of other co-morbidities could lead to appropriate management goals.