The Relationship Between Visit-to-Visit Variability in Systolic Blood Pressure and All-Cause Mortality in the General Population

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Abstract
Recent data suggest that visit-to-visit variability of blood pressure is associated with stroke incidence. Correlates of increased visit-to-visit variability in blood pressure and the relationship between variability and all-cause mortality were examined using data on US adults ≥20 years of age from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n=956). Three consecutive blood pressure readings were taken during 3 separate study visits from 1988 to 1994. Based on the mean of the second and third measurements from each visit, visit-to-visit blood pressure variability for each participant was defined using the standard deviation and coefficient of variation across visits. Mortality was assessed through December 31, 2006 (median follow-up=14 years; n=240 deaths). The mean of the standard deviation for systolic blood pressure across visits was 7.7 mm Hg. After multivariable adjustment, older age, female gender, history of myocardial infarction, higher mean systolic blood pressure and pulse pressu...