Posture, place, and mood effects on ambulatory blood pressure

Ambulatory blood pressure was studied as a function of posture, place, and mood in 131 subjects classified according to race, gender, and hypertensive status. The effect of posture was significant and explained a substantial proportion of within-subject variability. After controlling for posture, significant place and mood effects were observed when subjects were sitting but not when they were standing. Home vs. work differences in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly greater in Whites than in Blacks. Similar differences in systolic blood pressure were greater in mild hypertensive than in normotensive subjects. The results of this study underscore the need to control for effects of posture when interpreting ambulatory blood pressure readings.