Impact of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring on Control of Untreated, Undertreated, and Resistant Hypertension in Older People in Spain.

Background And Objective: The impact of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) on hypertension control has not been fully assessed across the treatment spectrum in older community-living individuals and could have important implications; specifically, the number of untreated, undertreated, and treatment-resistant uncontrolled hypertensives in need of or with unnecessary drug treatment could vary with respect to studies based on conventional blood pressure (BP) measured in clinical settings.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 among 1118 community-living individuals aged ≥60 years in Spain.

Measurements: Three conventional BP measurements at participants' homes and 24-hour ABPM were performed under standardized conditions. Uncontrolled hypertension (mean of the last 2 conventional BP readings ≥140/90 mm Hg) was considered undertreated if on 1 or 2 antihypertensive drugs, and apparently treatment-resistant if on ≥3 drugs. White-coat effect was defined as conventional BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg and 24-hour BP <130/80 mm Hg.

Results: Of 720 hypertensive patients (mean age, 72.3 ± 6.3 years; 51.3%, males), 64.4% had conventional BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg, and from these 39.9% were untreated, 49.5% undertreated, and 10.6% apparently treatment-resistant. Among uncontrolled hypertensive patients, the white-coat effect was present in 52.4% of those untreated, in 53.5% of undertreated, and in 49% of apparent treatment-resistant. These white-coat results were similar or even higher across alternative BP thresholds.

Conclusions: One-half of older uncontrolled hypertensive patients studied at home were actually controlled according to ABPM, regardless of treatment status. This suggests reconsideration of treatment needs in these numerous white-coat hypertensive patients, who probably do not need drug treatment initiation or intensification.