Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in diabetic males: A method for detecting blood pressure elevations undisclosed by conventional methods

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Abstract
Twenty-one diabetic males, ages 20 to 61 years (mean 48.4±10.5) and 14 healthy males, 22 to 59 years (mean 42.5±10.4) consented to participate in a study during which 24-h recordings of systolic and diastolic blood pressures, heart rates, and rhythm were obtained. The diabetic subjects were considered nor-motensive except for two patients, who had been observed to have rare insignificant elevations in blood pressure and were untreated. Diabetic subjects had a higher mean maximal systolic blood pressure (160.7±49.8 mmHg) than the normal controls (132.4±12.1 mmHg) (p<0.05). They also had a higher frequency (15.1%) of systolic blood pressure readings ≥ 150 mmHg compared to normal men (0.2%) (p<0.01). The frequency of diastolic blood pressure readings ≥90 mmHg was 22.1% in the former and 9.2% in the latter group (p<0.01). Of 21 diabetic males, 14 (66.7%) had systolic pressures ≥ 150 mmHg, diastolic pressures ≥100 mmHg, or both. In the normal men, 3 (21.4%) of the 14 had such pressures. Twenty-four hour monitoring of ambulatory blood pressures revealed elevations not detected by routine casual readings in patients with diabetes.