Gender effects on blood pressures obtained during an on-campus screening

In a blood pressure screening of 167 male and female college students, we varied the gender of the screener to evaluate gender effects on blood pressure. Four repeated determinations of resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure were obtained with an automated oscillometric device in a quiet semi-darkened room. Analysis of systolic blood pressure indicated a significant interaction between screener gender, subject gender, and repeated determinations. Screener/subject gender concordance produced relatively stable systolic blood pressures across four repeated determinations. Gender discordance resulted in larger changes in systolic pressures across the four determinations. This pattern was not obtained with diastolic pressures. Measures of recent stress and somatic anxiety interacted with gender effects on blood pressure. These gender effects on systolic blood pressure may explain, in part, higher reported incidence of "white coat hypertension" in females.