Introversion associated with large differences between screening blood pressure and home blood pressure measurement: The Ohasama study

Depressive symptoms as risk factors for the onset of home hypertension: a prospective cohort study

Depression is comorbid with somatic diseases; however, the relationship between depressive symptoms and hypertension (HT), a risk factor for cardiovascular events, remains unclear. Home blood pressure (BP) is more reproducible and accurately predictive of cardiovascular diseases than office BP. Therefore, we focused on home BP and investigated whether depressive symptoms contributed to the future onset of home HT. This prospective cohort study used data from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Community-Cohort Study (conducted in the Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) and included participants with home normotension (systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 135 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 85 mmHg). Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Japanese version at the baseline survey. In the secondary survey, approximately 4 years later, the onset of home HT was evaluated (SBP ≥ 135 mmHg or DBP ≥ 85 mmHg) and was compared in participants with and without depressive symptoms. Of the 3 082 (mean age: 54.2 years; females: 80.9%) participants, 729 (23.7%) had depressive symptoms at the baseline survey. During the 3.5-year follow-up, 124 (17.0%) and 388 (16.5%) participants with and without depressive symptoms, respectively, developed home HT. Multivariable adjusted odds ratios were 1.37 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-1.84), 1.18 (95% CI: 0.86-1.61), and 1.66 (95% CI: 1.17-2.36) for home, morning, and evening HT, respectively. This relationship was consistent in the subgroup analyses according to age, sex, BP pattern, and drinking habit. Depressive symptoms increased the risk of new-onset home HT, particularly evening HT, among individuals with home normotension. This prospective cohort study revealed that depressive symptoms are risk factors for new-onset home hypertension, particularly evening hypertension among individuals with home normotension. Assessing home blood pressure in individuals with depressive symptoms is important for the prevention of hypertension and concomitant cardiovascular diseases.

The association between depressive symptoms and masked hypertension in participants with normotension measured at research center

Masked hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, masked hypertension is sometimes overlooked owing to the requirement for home blood pressure measurements for diagnosing. Mental status influences blood pressure. To reduce undiagnosed masked hypertension, this study assessed the association between depressive symptoms and masked hypertension. This cross-sectional study used data from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Community-Based Cohort Study (conducted in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, from 2013) and included participants with normotension measured at the research center (systolic blood pressure<140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure <90 mmHg). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Japanese version). Masked hypertension was defined as normotension measured at the research center and home hypertension (home systolic blood pressure ≥135 mmHg or home diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mmHg). The study comprised 6705 participants (mean age: 55.7 ± 13.7 years). Of these participants, 1106 (22.1%) without depressive symptoms and 393 (23.2%) with depressive symptoms were categorized to have masked hypertension. Sex-specific and age-adjusted least mean squares for home blood pressure, not for research blood pressure were significantly higher in the group with depressive symptoms in both sex categories. The multivariate odds ratio for masked hypertension in the patients with depressive symptoms was 1.72 (95% confidence interval: 1.26-2.34) in male participants and 1.30 (95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.59) in female ones. Depressive symptoms were associated with masked hypertension in individuals with normotension measured at the research center. Depressive symptoms may be one of the risk factors for masked hypertension. Depressive symptoms were associated with masked hypertension in individuals with normotension measured at research center.

The long-term reproducibility of the white-coat effect on blood pressure as a continuous variable from the Ohasama Study

There is little information about the reproducibility of the white coat effect, which was treated as a continuous variable. To investigate a long-term interval reproducibility of the white-coat effect as a continuous variable. We selected 153 participants without antihypertensive treatment (men, 22.9%; age, 64.4 years) from the general population of Ohasama, Japan, to assess the repeatedly measured white-coat effect (the difference between blood pressures at the office and home) in a 4-year interval. The reproducibility was assessed by testing the intraclass correlation coefficient (two-way random effect model-single measures). The white-coat effect for systolic/diastolic blood pressure slightly decreased by 0.17/1.56 mmHg at the 4-year visit on average. The Bland-Altman plots showed no significant systemic error for the white-coat effects (P ≥ 0.24). The intraclass correlation coefficient (95% confidence interval) of the white-coat effect for systolic blood pressure, office systolic blood pressure, and home systolic blood pressure were 0.41 (0.27-0.53), 0.64 (0.52-0.74), and 0.74 (0.47-0.86), respectively. Change in the white-coat effect was mainly affected by a change in office blood pressure. Long-term reproducibility of the white-coat effect is limited in the general population without antihypertensive treatment. The change in the white-coat effect is mainly caused by office blood pressure variation.

Association Between Extraversion Personality With the Blood Pressure Level in Adolescents

Purpose

The association between extraversion personality and high blood pressure (BP) has not been well-studied. This study aims to explore the association between extraversion personality and the BP level in a large sample of adolescents.

Methods

As an ongoing study, 5,246 children aged 6–9 years were recruited using a stratified cluster sampling method in 2014. The extraversion personality trait, assessed by the Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ, answered by adolescents) in 2019, was used in the main analysis. A total of 3,407 participants were eligible and included in this analysis.

Results

The EPQ extraversion score was negatively associated with a systolic BP, a diastolic BP, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in a univariate analysis. After adjusting for other covariates, high extraversion score was negatively associated with systolic BP (β = −0.026; 95% CI = −0.047, −0.004; p = 0.002). There was an interaction between regions and the extraversion score on systolic BP (P_interaction = 0.037). The stratified analysis showed that, in rural areas, the extraversion score was negatively associated with systolic BP (β = −0.050; 95% CI = −0.081, −0.016; p = 0.004). However, we did find an association between the extraversion score and systolic BP in urban areas (β = 0.000; 95% CI = −0.028, 0.028; p = 0.996). Similar results were observed for the extraversion assessed by parents.

Conclusions

We observed that extraversion personality was negatively associated with high BP in adolescents, especially for those who were living in rural areas. Our results suggested that a comprehensive intervention should be implemented to promote psychological health in adolescents.

Genome-wide association study for white coat effect in Japanese middle-aged to elderly people: The HOMED-BP study

BACKGROUND

White coat effect (WCE), the blood pressure (BP) difference between clinical and non-clinical settings, can lead to clinical problems such as misdiagnosis of hypertension. Etiology of WCE has been still unclear, especially from genetic aspects. The present article investigated association between genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and WCE in patients with essential hypertension.

METHODS

The present cross-sectional analyses were based on 295 Japanese essential hypertensive outpatients aged ≧40 years enrolled in randomized control study, Hypertension Objective Treatment Based on Measurement by Electrical Devices of Blood Pressure (HOMED-BP) study, who were not taking antihypertensive medications before the randomization. Home and clinic BP were measured. WCE was defined by subtracting home BP from clinic BP. Genotyping was conducted with 500K DNA microarray chips. Association between genome-wide SNPs and WCE were analyzed. For replication (p < 10^-4), we analyzed participants from Ohasama study who took no antihypertension medications and whose SNPs were collected.

RESULTS

Genome-wide SNPs were not significantly associated with WCE of systolic and diastolic BP after corrections of multiple comparisons (p < 2 × 10^-7). We found suggestive SNPs associated with WCE of systolic and diastolic BP (p < 10^-4). However, the consistent results were not obtained in the replication study.

CONCLUSION

The present article showed no significant association between genome-wide SNPs and WCE. Since there were several suggestive SNPs associated with WCE, the present study warrants a further study with bigger sample size for investigating the genetic influence on WCE.

Children's blood pressure and its association with road traffic noise exposure - A systematic review with meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Primary and synthetic research on road traffic noise (RTN) and blood pressure (BP) is more common for adults than it is for children and adolescents. Given the conflicting evidence from primary studies, this study aimed to conduct an up-to-date systematic review with meta-analysis of the association between RTN and children's BP, by using advanced statistical techniques, to take into account the heterogeneity in primary studies.

METHODS

MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE (ScienceDirect with filters), and the Internet (Google) were searched (last update: July 21, 2016) in English, Spanish, and Russian. Thirteen articles (total n=8 770) were included in the systematic review and 37 effect size estimates were pooled in different meta-analyses under the quality effects model.

RESULTS

Results showed 0.48mmHg (95% CI: -0.87, 1.83) increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 0.22mmHg (95% CI: -0.64, 1.07) in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) per 5dB increase in RTN at school/kindergarten; and 0.20mmHg (95% CI: -0.30, 0.71) increase in SBP and 0.03mmHg (95% CI: -0.18, 0.25) in DBP per 5dB increase in RTN at home. There was high heterogeneity in the first three models and evidence of publication bias in the first. The following categorical and linear factors were significant effect modifiers in different exposure - outcome scenarios: country where the study was conducted, the mode of noise assessment, the mode of BP measurement, the type of reported effect size estimate, the overall quality score of the estimate, the minimum number of BP readings, and children's mean age.

CONCLUSIONS

All evidence considered, the observed association between RTN and BP is weak and further flattened by methodological issues of primary studies, but its long-term consequences should not be ignored.

Are personality traits associated with white-coat and masked hypertension?

OBJECTIVES

Anxiety and other psychological dispositions are thought to be associated with blood pressure. This study tests whether personality traits have long-term associations with masked and white-coat effects.

METHODS

A community-based sample of 2838 adults from Sardinia (Italy) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and 7 years later, blood pressure was assessed in the clinic and with ambulatory monitoring. Logistic regressions were used to test whether anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted the white-coat and masked hypertension phenomena. Age, sex, and antihypertensive medication use were tested as moderators.

RESULTS

Significant interactions were found between personality traits and antihypertensive medications in predicting masked and white-coat effects. Only among those taking antihypertensive medication, higher anxiety was associated with a higher risk of pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect (odds ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.91) and higher conscientiousness was associated with a lower risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension (odds ratio 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.49-0.99). There were no significant interactions with age or sex.

CONCLUSIONS

Among those on antihypertensive medications, anxious individuals were more likely to have pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect and less conscientious individuals were at increased risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension. Particularly among anxious and less conscientious individuals, ambulatory monitoring may improve the tailoring of pharmacological treatments.

Personality traits as predictors of decline in higher-level functional capacity over a 7-year follow-up in older adults: the Ohasama study

Numerous factors that affect functional decline have been identified, and personality traits are considered to be an important factor in functional decline risk. The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG) was developed to measure three higher-level functional capacities, instrumental activities of daily living, intellectual activity, and social roles, in Japanese elderly, which were previously not assessed adequately with existing scales of functional decline. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of personality traits as predictors of higher-level functional decline over a 7-year follow-up in a rural Japanese community. Data on 676 participants (mean 67.1 years) who were free of functional decline and had completed questionnaires at baseline and 7 years later, were analyzed. Demographic characteristics, lifestyle and personality characteristics were obtained from a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. Higher-level functional decline was examined using the subscales of the TMIG at baseline and at a 7-year follow-up examination. Over the 7-year study period, 21.7% of eligible participants reported decline in higher-level functional capacity. After adjustment for putative confounding factors, the traits that were significant predictors of decline in higher-level functional capacity at the 7-year follow-up had higher psychoticism scores [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 2.12 (1.23-3.66)] and lower extraversion scores [1.89 (1.01-3.56)]. The personality traits of higher psychoticism and lower extraversion were significantly associated with a risk of future functional decline. A better understanding of these personality traits may help identify of at-risk individuals and could help reduce functional decline in older adults.

Factors associated with day-by-day variability of self-measured blood pressure at home: the Ohasama study

BACKGROUND

We previously reported that high day-by-day blood pressure (BP) variability derived from self-measured BP at home (home BP) predicted cardiovascular mortality over and beyond other risk factors. The objective of this study is to clarify the determinants of the day-by-day home-BP variability.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional community survey in 1,215 inhabitants (female gender 59%, mean age 62 years) of Ohasama, Japan. The subjects measured their BP and heart rate once every morning and once every evening for 4 weeks. The day-by-day BP variability and heart rate variability were defined as within individual standard deviation of all home BP and heart rate, respectively. We also considered coefficient of variation (CV). These parameters in the morning and those in the evening were calculated separately.

RESULTS

The level and standard deviation of home systolic/diastolic BP (SBP/DBP) in the morning were 123.4 +/- 15.1/75.7 +/- 9.0 mm Hg and 8.6 +/- 3.1/5.8 +/- 2.0 mm Hg. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that older age, female gender, elevated home BP, low home heart rate, and elevated home heart rate variability were significant determinants of elevated home-BP variability. In addition to these factors, alcohol intake and sedentary lifestyle were also determinants of elevated home-BP variability in the evening.

CONCLUSIONS

Day-by-day home-BP variability was associated with home BP, alcohol intake or sedentary lifestyle. Whether modifying these factors would reduce BP variability and whether such reduction would lead to better outcomes needs further study.

Prevalence, predictive factor, and clinical significance of white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension in Korean hypertensive patients

BACKGROUND

The prevalence and clinical significance of white-coat hypertension (WCHT) and masked hypertension (MHT) are unknown in Koreans. Here we measure the frequency of WCHT and MHT in hypertensive subjects and identify the epidemiologic and/or clinical factors that predict it in Korean subjects.

METHODS

This study is a retrospective analysis of a random sample from February 2004 to October 2005. All patients had measurements of blood pressure (BP) in the clinic and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Subjects were classified into four groups on the basis of daytime ambulatory BP and clinic BP level: 1) Normotension (NT), 2) MHT, 3) WCHT, and 4) sustained hypertension (SHT).

RESULTS

For all 967 patients, the mean clinic BP was 157.7 +/- 22.0/ 95.3 +/- 13.1 mmHg, and the mean daytime ambulatory BP was 136.4 +/- 15.0/ 86.2 +/- 10.7 mmHg. The NT, MHT, WCHT, and SHT groups consisted of 51 (5.3%), 55 (5.7%), 273 (28.2%), and 588 (60.8%) subjects, respectively. The left ventricular mass index was significantly higher in SHT than in the other groups, and was positively correlated with BP, especially ABPM. Compared with NT, the factors associated with MHT were younger age, male gender, higher BMI, clinic BP > or = 130 mmHg, and alcohol consumption. Compared with SHT, the factors associated with WCHT were female gender, lower BMI, and clinic BP < 150 mmHg.

CONCLUSIONS

WCHT and MHT were prevalent in the hypertensive population. ABPM was more predictive of target organ damage than clinic BP, and could be useful in identifying subjects at risk for WCHT and MHT.