High-normal blood pressure is associated with visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in the US adults

OBJECTIVES: High-normal blood pressure and visit-to-visit blood pressure variability are common in clinical settings. They are associated with cardiovascular outcomes. No population based studies have assessed the association between these two phenomena. Our objective was to test the relationship of high-normal blood pressure with visit-to-visit blood pressure variability. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: We used data from the cross-sectional Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to test the relationship between high-normal blood pressure and visit-to-visit blood pressure variability; we conducted multivariable regression analyses to evaluate the relationship between these two variables. RESULTS: The analysis included 6,071 participants. The participants' mean age was 37.16 years. The means of visit-to-visit systolic and diastolic blood pressure variability were 5.84 mmHg and 5.26 mmHg. High-normal blood pressure was significantly associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure variability (p values <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High-normal blood pressure is associated with visit-to-visit blood pressure variability. Additional research is required to replicate the reported results in prospective studies and evaluate approaches to reduce blood pressure variability observed in clinical settings among patients with high-normal blood pressure to reduce the subsequent complications of blood pressure variability.