Background: Studies consisting mostly of whites have shown that the prevalence of masked hypertension differs by prehypertension status. Using data from the Jackson Heart Study, an exclusively African American population-based cohort, we evaluated the association of masked hypertension and prehypertension with left ventricular mass index and common carotid intima media thickness.
Methods and results: At the baseline visit, clinic blood pressure (CBP) measurement and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed. Masked hypertension was defined as mean systolic/diastolic CBP <140/90 mm Hg and mean daytime systolic/diastolic ambulatory blood pressure ≥135/85 mm Hg. Clinic hypertension was defined as mean systolic/diastolic CBP ≥140/90 mm Hg. Normal CBP was defined as mean systolic/diastolic CBP <120/80 mm Hg and prehypertension as mean systolic/diastolic CBP 120 to 139/80 to 89 mm Hg. The analytic sample included 909 participants. Among participants with systolic/diastolic CBP <140/90 mm Hg, the prevalence of masked hypertension and prehypertension was 27.5% and 62.4%, respectively. The prevalence of masked hypertension among those with normal CBP and prehypertension was 12.9% and 36.3%, respectively. In a fully adjusted model, which included prehypertension status and antihypertensive medication use as covariates, left ventricular mass index was 7.94 g/m(2) lower among those without masked hypertension compared to participants with masked hypertension (P<0.001). Left ventricular mass index was also 4.77 g/m(2) lower among those with clinic hypertension, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.068). There were no significant differences in left ventricular mass index between participants with and without masked hypertension, or clinic hypertension.
Conclusions: Masked hypertension was common among African Americans with prehypertension and also normal CBP, and was associated with subclinical cardiovascular disease.
Keywords: blood pressure; cardiovascular diseases; epidemiology; hypertension.
© 2016 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.