Prevalence of Masked and White-Coat Hypertension in Pre-Hypertensive and Stage 1 Hypertensive patients with the use of TeleMRPA

• Published in: Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia Vol. 113; no. 5; pp. 970 - 975
• Main Authors: Barroso, Weimar Kunz Sebba, Feitosa, Audes Diógenes Magalhães, Barbosa, Eduardo Costa Duarte, Miranda, Roberto Dischinger, Brandão, Andréa Araújo, Vitorino, Priscila Valverde Oliveira, Ribeiro, Lúcio Paulo de Souza, Gomes, Marco Mota
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia - SBC 01-11-2019; Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia (SBC)
• Subjects: Aged; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory - methods; Brazil - epidemiology; CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS; Data Accuracy; Diagnostic Errors - statistics & numerical data; Female; Hipertensão do Avental Branco; Hipertensão Mascarada; Hipertensão/diagnóstico; Humans; Hypertension - diagnosis; Male; Masked Hypertension - diagnosis; Masked Hypertension - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Monitoração Domiciliar de Hipertensão; Original; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; Telemedicina; Telemedicine - statistics & numerical data; White Coat Hypertension - diagnosis; White Coat Hypertension - epidemiology; Brazil; Hipertensão/diagnóstico; Telemedicina; White Coat Hypertensin; Telemedicine; Hipertensão Mascarada; Monitoração Domiciliar de Hipertensão; Hipertensão do Avental Branco; Hypertension/diagnosis; Masked Hypertension; Hypertension Self-Monitoring
• ISSN: 0066-782X; 1678-4170; 1678-4170
• DOI: 10.5935/abc.20190147

The diagnosis of arterial hypertension based on measurements of blood pressure in the office has low accuracy.
To evaluate the prevalence of masked hypertension (MH) and white-coat hypertension through home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) in pre-hypertensive and stage 1 hypertensive patients.
Retrospective study, of which sample consisted of individuals with BP ≥ 120/80 mmHg and < 160/100 mmHg at the medical office without the use of antihypertensive medication and who underwent exams on the HBPM platform by telemedicine (TeleMRPA) between May 2017 and September 2018. The four-day MRPA protocol was used, with 24 measurements, using automated, validated, calibrated equipment with a memory function.
The sample consisted of 1,273 participants, of which 739 (58.1%) were women. The mean age was 52.4 ± 14.9 years, mean body mass index (BMI) 28.4 ± 5.1 kg/m2. The casual BP was higher than the HBPM in 7.6 mmHg for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 5.2 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure (DBP), both with statistical significance (p < 0.001). There were 558 (43.8%) normotensive individuals; 291 (22.9%) with sustained hypertension; 145 (11.4%) with MH and 279 (21.9%) with white-coat hypertension (WCH), with a diagnostic error by casual BP in the total sample in 424 (33.3%) patients. In stage 1 hypertensive individuals, the prevalence of WCH was 48.9%; in prehypertensive patients, the prevalence of MH was 20.6%.
MH and WCH have a high prevalence rate in the adult population; however, in prehypertensive or stage 1 hypertensive patients, the prevalence is higher. Out-of-office BP measurements in these subgroups should be performed whenever possible to prevent misdiagnosis.