Identifying patterns of diurnal blood pressure variation among ELSA-Brasil participants

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the gold standard method for the diagnosis of hypertension. ABPM provides a set of repeated measurements for blood pressure (BP), usually over 24 h. Traditional approaches characterize diurnal BP variation by single ABPM parameters such as average and standard deviation, regardless of the temporal nature of the data. In this way, information about the pattern of diurnal BP variation and relationship between parameters is lost. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize daily BP patterns considering the set of repeated measures from 24-h ABPM. A total of 859 adult participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) performed a 24-h ABPM record. Hypertension, sex, age, race/color, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and BMI were the covariables analyzed. Techniques for longitudinal clustering, multinomial models, and models with mixed effects were used. Three daily BP patterns were identified. Daily BP patterns with high BP presented higher standard deviation and morning surge and lower nocturnal dipping. They showed greater systolic BP variability and faster rise than fall in diastolic BP during sleep. Hypertensive, "pardos," and men had greater odds to present these patterns. Daily BP patterns with high BP presented the worst profile concerning ABPM parameters associated with cardiovascular risk. The daily BP patterns identified contribute to the characterization of diurnal BP variation.