Temporal stability of ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in youths

Gregory A. Harshfield, Frank A. Treiber, Harry Davis, Maribeth Johnson, Gregory A. Slavens, William Thompson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background. The use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for pediatric populations is increasing. Objective. To determine the 2-year stability of ambulatory blood pressure in youths. Methods. We evaluated 2-year stabilities of resting and ambulatory blood pressures in 197 youths (aged 13.9 ± 2.3 years at initial evaluation). Readings were taken every 20 min during the daytime (0800-2200 h) and every 30 min at night (0000-0600 h). Results. Daytime and night-time systolic blood pressure increased (P < 0.01 for both) as did resting systolic blood pressure (P < 0.05). Measures of diastolic blood pressure did not change. Changes in systolic blood pressure were related to changes in body size. Estimates of stability for resting and ambulatory measurements were similar, ranging from 0.65 to 0.75. In addition, correlation coefficients for relationships between first and second readings for resting and ambulatory measurement were similar ranging from 0.43 and for resting heart rate to 0.72 for 24 h systolic blood pressure (P < 0.001 for each). The only significant correlation between change scores for resting and ambulatory values was that between resting and night-time diastolic blood pressures (r = 0.33, P < 0.001). Conclusion. Measures of blood pressure derived from ambulatory blood pressure monitoring reflect changes in blood pressure in youths at least as well as do changes in resting blood pressure despite the high degree of variability in levels of physical activity and affective states of the children during the ambulatory recordings.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)87-90
Number of pages4
JournalBlood Pressure Monitoring
Volume4
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Keywords

  • Ambulatory monitoring
  • Temporal stability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Assessment and Diagnosis
  • Advanced and Specialized Nursing

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