Non-dipping blood pressure pattern is associated with cardiovascular events in a 21-year follow-up study

• Published in: Journal of human hypertension 2024-05, Vol.38 (5), p.444-451
• Main Authors: Lempiäinen, Päivi A., Ylitalo, Antti, Huikuri, Heikki, Kesäniemi, Y. Antero, Ukkola, Olavi H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/499; 692/699/75; Adult; Antihypertensives; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - physiology; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Cholesterol; Circadian Rhythm; Epidemiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Administration; Humans; Hypertension - diagnosis; Hypertension - epidemiology; Hypertension - physiopathology; Incidence; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Population studies; Public Health; Risk Factors; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1476-5527; 0950-9240; 1476-5527
• DOI: 10.1038/s41371-024-00909-2

Non-dipping blood pressure (BP) pattern is a predictor for cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality. We evaluated dipping status change and its association with incidence of non-fatal CV events in middle-aged subjects. The OPERA study was carried out during the years 1991–1993, with a follow-up study 21.7 years later. In this study, we included 452 participants with 24-h ambulatory BP measurements (ABPM) available in both surveys. The study population was divided into four groups according to the dipping pattern change: dipping–dipping ( n  = 152/33.6%), dipping–non-dipping ( n  = 198/43.8%), non-dipping–dipping ( n  = 20/4.4%), and non-dipping–non-dipping ( n  = 82/18.1%). Sixty-five participants experienced a CV event (14.4%) during the 21.7 (SD 0.8) years of follow-up. The incidence of events was highest (28%) in the non-dipping–non-dipping group, and lowest (6.6%) in the dipping–dipping group ( p