Clinical investigation of morning hypertension

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate morning hypertension and self measurement of blood pressure (BP) at home. METHODS: Ninety-six patients out of 260 hypertensive (HT) out patients with antihypertensive medication measured their BP at home and data were collected from 60 patients (21 men, 39 women: mean age 74.8 years). The relation between out patient clinic BP and home BP was evaluated in the 60 HT patients. They were requested to measure home blood pressure at morning and evening time. RESULTS: Mean out patient clinic BP, mean morning BP at home, and mean evening BP at home were 136.4/71.1, 133.9/74.7, and 131.7/72.2 mmHg, respectively. As far as systolic BP is concerned, well-controlled BP (out patient clinic systolic BP <140 mmHg and morning home BP <135 mmHg) was observed in 21 patients (34.4%). The rate of masked HT and white coat HT were 24.6% and 16.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: It was shown that self measurement of BP at home contributes to the management of BP control in hypertensive patients.