Prevalence and Predictors of White Coat Hypertension among Newly-Diagnosed Hypertensive Patients in a Tertiary Health Centre in Nigeria.
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
College of Health Sciences, Jimma University Ethiopia
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Failure to diagnose and adequately classify
newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients may lead to non-recognition
of White Coat Hypertension (WCH) and inappropriate use of anti-
hypertensive medications. This study determined the prevalence
and predictors of white coat hypertension among newly-diagnosed
hypertensive patients in a tertiary health centre in Nigeria.
METHODS: One hundred and twenty newly-diagnosed
hypertensive patients and 120 controls were recruited for the study.
All the participants had 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure
Monitoring (ABPM) using an oscillometric device (CONTEC®).
Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.
RESULTS: Out of 120 patients, 52 were males and the mean age
was 44.2 ± 9.7 years whereas of the 120 controls, 53 were males
and the mean age was 44.0 ± 7.5 years. The mean body mass index
of the patients, BMI (27.0 ± 4.5kg/m²) was higher than control
(24.1 ± 4.5kg/m²), p-value <0.001. The prevalence of WCH was
36.7%. The mean age and BMI of those with WCH were 43.3 ±
11.4 years and 26.4 ± 4.5kg/m2 respectively. Females constituted a
greater proportion (70.5%). In multivariate analysis, high level of
education and being overweight or obese were significant
determinants
of
WCH.
CONCLUSION: High prevalence of WCH existed among
participants studied. High level of education and being obese were
predictors of white coat hypertension. Hence, ambulatory blood
pressure monitoring should be included as part of routine work-up
for newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients in order to limit the
number of those who may be committed to lifelong
antihypertensive medications with its unwanted side effects.
Description
Keywords
KEYWORDS: Prevalence, white coat hypertension, ambulatory blood pressure, predictor, Nigeria.
Citation
Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences. 29:4:431-438.