Visit-to-Visit Blood Pressure Variability and Arterial Stiffness Independently Predict Cardiovascular Risk Category in a General Population: Results from the SEPHAR II Study.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to evaluate visit-to-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) and the association of this parameter with cardiovascular risk determinants, according to the SEPHAR II survey.

Methods: Following a selection based on the multi-stratified proportional sampling procedure, a total of 1975 subjects who gave informed consent were evaluated by means of a questionnaire, anthropometric, blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness measurements (pulse wave velocity and augmentation index), 12-lead ECG recordings, and blood and urine analysis. BPV was quantified in terms of the standard deviation (SD) of the mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and high BPV was defined as SBP-SD above the 4th quartile.