Marital cohesion and ambulatory blood pressure in early hypertension.
One hundred thirty-four men and seventy-one women, unmedicated mild hypertensives, underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABP) and completed standardized questionnaires measuring marital and job stress. Of these, 44.8% had daytime diastolic BP < 90 mm Hg; 96.1% had left ventricular mass index in the normal range (N = 176). Lower marital cohesion (Cohesion, subscale of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale) was related to elevated nighttime ABP (P < or = .05) and 24-h diastolic BP (P < .05). With low Cohesion (N = 83), more reported spousal contact was associated with elevated nighttime ABP (P < .031). The 7.3% of subjects with very low Cohesion demonstrated approximately 6 mm Hg elevation of all ABP variables, controlling for other significant variables (P < .05, except for nighttime SBP). This study shows an association between marital cohesion and ABP and suggests that marital factors may have a role in sustaining BP in early hypertension.
Baker
B
B
Department of Psychiatry, The Toronto Hospital, Ontario, Canada. brain.baker@utoronto.ca
Helmers
K
K
O'Kelly
B
B
Sakinofsky
I
I
Abelsohn
A
A
Tobe
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires