Assessment of Blood Pressure Patterns among Adults in an Urban Area of Mysuru District: A Cross-sectional Study Using Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Device

Background: Reliance on office-based blood pressure measurement (OBPM) may lead to misclassification of true blood pressure (BP) status. Ambulatory BP Monitoring (ABPM) offers a more accurate assessment of 24-h BP variations. This study compared office and ambulatory BP values and estimated the prevalence of different phenotypes of hypertension based on ABPM among adults. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 1 year and 6 months among 250 adults aged ≥30 years selected through multistage sampling-Probability Proportional to Size Sampling in Stage 1 and Systematic Random Sampling in Stage 2. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical details were collected. The study subjects were first checked for their BP by OBPM and then connected to the ABPM. Analyses were performed using SPSS version 26 with paired t -test, correlation, and Chi-square. Results: Mean office systolic BP (SBP) (135.34 ± 16.83 mmHg) was lower than mean 24 h SBP (140.72 ± 66.21 mmHg). ABPM revealed 45.2% as normotensives, 38% persistent hypertension, 8.4% masked hypertension, 6% white-coat hypertension (WCH), and 2.4% isolated systolic hypertension. High SBP and diastolic BP (DBP) load (>50%) were observed in 60.4% and 58%, respectively. Sociodemographic factors (age, education, occupation, and marital status) and lifestyle behaviors (coffee intake, sleep quality, screen use, physical activity, and body mass index) were significantly associated with BP phenotype. Correlation analysis showed a negligible relation between sleep quality and nighttime SBP ( r = 0.051) and DBP ( r = 0.113). Conclusion: A substantial proportion of participants showed discordance between office and ambulatory BP readings, emphasizing ABPM’s value in detecting masked and WCH and quantifying BP load. Incorporating ABPM in community hypertension screening could reduce misclassification and improve management.