Association between blood pressure dipping patterns and hypertension-mediated organ damage among Nigerians with newlydiagnosed hypertension

Introduction: Abnormal blood pressure (BP) dipping patterns are associated with increased cardiovascular risk among Africans. This study determined the association between BP dipping patterns and hypertension-mediated organ damage among patients with newly-diagnosed hypertension.Methods: Ambulatory BP monitoring and echocardiography were carried out on 120 participants. Participants were categorized based on the ratio of night-time to day-time systolic BP into 4 patterns: Normal dipper (≥ 10% but < 20%), non-dippers (≥ 0% but < 10%), reverse dippers (<0%) and extreme dippers (≥ 20%).Result: Fifty-one (42.5%) were males, the mean age and body mass index were 44.2±9.8years and 27.1±4.4kg/m2 respectively. The non-dipping pattern was the most prevalent while the reverse dipping had the lowest mitral E/A ratio. Office systolic blood pressure was the only predictor of left ventricular hypertrophy (OR=1.050, 95% CI=1.004-1.098; p-value = 0.034).Conclusions: The non-dipping pattern was the most prevalent abnormal dipping pattern while the reverse dippers had the highest risk of hypertension-mediated organ damage. Office blood pressure was the only predictor of left ventricular hypertrophy. Hence, office BP measurement as well as ambulatory blood pressure measurements are potentially important tools in risk stratification in resource-poor settings of sub-Saharan Africa.