[Descriptive study of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in the Primary Care Nursing clinic].

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and the circadian patterns of patients who received ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) by a Primary Care Team.

Method: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study at community level. People older than 18 years on ABPM (2007-2011).

Variables: demographic, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular risk factors, any type of arterial hypertension and circadian pattern. Intruments of measurement: 2 validated instruments with comparable results were used.

Procedure: The instruments for ABPM were placed during the nursing visit. The instruments were then removed after 24h, and the data was retrieved and recorded in the computerized clinical history.

Results: A total of 326 people were studied, with a mean age of 60.53±12.96 years, of whom 56.7% were male. According to ABPM the patient results showed that: 38.5% had «white coat» arterial hypertension, 36.2% were classified as poorly controlled arterial hypertension, 17.2% had masked hypertension, and 8% with isolated hypertension. Dipper circadian patterns were present in 39.6% of patients and non- dipper in 60.4%.

Conclusions: ABPM allows to Primary Health Care professionals to check the actual situation of the blood pressure over 24h and analyze the circadian pattern. In clinical practice this involves having a comprehensive care strategy on life style, as well as adherence to treatment.