Seasonal variation in gestational blood pressure.
OBJECTIVE
To assess seasonal variability in antenatal blood pressure (BP).


METHODS
We studied 1919 pregnant women who contributed 21,119 antenatal BP measurements.


RESULTS
BP peaked in winter and reached a nadir in summer. After confounder adjustment, systolic BP was 1.0 to 1.7 mm Hg higher January to May, 0.6 mm Hg higher in September and October, and 0.8 mm Hg higher in November and December compared with August. After stratifying by overweight status, BP showed strong seasonal variability among lean women, whereas there were no seasonal trends among overweight women.


CONCLUSIONS
Environmental factors may regulate gestational BP and may be relevant to seasonality of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Bodnar
Lisa M
LM
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. bodnar@edc.pitt.edu
Daftary
Ashi
A
Markovic
Nina
N
Schatzman
Cindy L
CL
Roberts
James M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology