title: Blood pressure variation in the institutionalized elderly.
abstract: Ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring has been used to examine stress responses in a variety of settings and populations, demonstrating that both the environment and activities influence BP. Little is known, however, about the effects of such factors on the BP of elders, particularly those in institutional settings. This paper examines sources of variation in BP among elders living in two long-term care settings. Twenty-seven residents of a nursing home (NH) facility and 29 residents from independent living (IL) facilities wore ABP monitors for approximately 24-hours. Individual pressures were transformed to z-scores and analyzed by ANOVA. Posture, mood and activity were significantly associated with systolic BP among IL while location and activity were significantly associated among NH. Posture and activity were associated with diastolic BP among IL residents. The specific effects of location, posture, and activity did not differ across settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Gillian H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Ice
authors.forename: Gary D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Crews
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D011187:Posture; D012016:Reference Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological