[Risk profiles of hypertension in normotensive subjects]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of 10 factors suspected to be involved in hypertension genesis (age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, sodium to potassium urinary excretion ratio, systolic BP and heart rate response to mental stress, baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), job demand, job latitude (Karasec's questionnaire), and personality (Bortner's score). A cohort of 213 normotensive healthy subjects was followed during five years. Using K-means clustering technique we have defined 7 homogeneous groups of subjects. Four groups with different combinations of these factors had a significantly higher 5-year systolic BP increase. The common characteristic of these groups was a low BRS. In conclusion, cluster analysis is well suited to analyse combined effect of factors on hypertension genesis. Only low BRS seems to be the common factor involved in hypertension development.