AMBULATORY BLOOD PRESSURE PATTERN IN HEALTHY NORMOTENSIVE SUBJECTS

Introduction: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring helps in detecting masked hypertension and in understanding nocturnal blood pressure patterns in currently normotensive subjects. Studies on the ambulatory blood pressure patterns in currently healthy normotensives are lacking in Kerala.

Objectives: (1) This study was done to find out the prevalence of masked hypertension (2) To study normal daily blood pressure patterns in healthy normotensives (3) To find out mean 24-h systolic & diastolic BP variation with age group and sex (4) To find out the difference in ambulatory blood pressure patterns in normotensives with & without family history of hypertension in 1st degree relatives. Methods: it was a cross sectional study on 100 healthy normotensive subjects in the age group 18-55 years who were the staff / students of government medical college Kozhikode over 1 year period (January 1^st 2019 to December 31^st 2019). 24hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was done in normotensive subjects who met the inclusion criteria.