Key result
Essential hypertensive patients exhibit generalized physiological hyperreactivity to strong acute mental stress compared to normotensives.
Why the study?
A systematic review of studies comparing physiological reactivity to acute mental stress between essential hypertensive and normotensive individuals across stress-reactive physiological systems was lacking.
Does acute mental stress elicit exaggerated physiological reactivity in essential hypertensive individuals compared to normotensive individuals?
Systematic Review (n=58)
Does acute mental stress elicit exaggerated physiological reactivity in essential hypertensive individuals compared to normotensive individuals?
Essential hypertension is associated with generalized physiological hyperreactivity to acute mental stress, particularly strong mental stress, which may play a role in mediating cardiovascular disease risk.
Supports exploring stress management in hypertension care; extends physiological evidence via systematic synthesis.
Objective: Exaggerated physiological reactions to acute mental stress (AMS) are associated with hypertension (development) and have been proposed to play an important role in mediating the cardiovascular disease risk with hypertension. A variety of studies compared physiological reactivity to AMS between essential hypertensive (HT) and normotensive (NT) individuals. However, a systematic review of studies across stress-reactive physiological systems including intermediate biological risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is lacking. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed) for original articles and short reports, published in English language in peer-reviewed journals in November and December 2022. We targeted studies comparing the reactivity between essential HT and NT to AMS in terms of cognitive tasks, public speaking tasks, or the combination of both, in at least one of the predefined stress-reactive physiological systems. Results: We included a total of 58 publications. The majority of studies investigated physiological reactivity to mental stressors of mild or moderate intensity. Whereas HT seem to exhibit increased reactivity in response to mild or moderate AMS only under certain conditions (i.e., in response to mild mental stressors with specific characteristics, in an early hyperkinetic stage of HT, or with respect to certain stress systems), increased physiological reactivity in HT as compared to NT to AMS of strong intensity was observed across all investigated stress-reactive physiological systems. Conclusion: Overall, this systematic review supports the proposed and expected generalized physiological hyperreactivity to AMS with essential hypertension, in particular to strong mental stress. Moreover, we discuss potential underlying mechanisms and highlight open questions for future research of importance for the comprehensive understanding of the observed hyperreactivity to AMS in essential hypertension.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Walther et al. (2023) conducted a systematic review in Essential hypertension (n=58). Acute mental stress vs. Normotensive individuals was evaluated on Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress across stress-reactive physiological systems. Essential hypertensive individuals exhibit generalized physiological hyperreactivity to acute mental stress, particularly to strong mental stressors, compared to normotensive individuals.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: