Effect of social support on nocturnal blood pressure dipping.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if nocturnal blood pressure (BP) dipping among non-Hispanic blacks is influenced by social support. Non-Hispanic blacks have higher rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality from hypertension and are more likely to have ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) that remains high at night (nondipping).


METHODS
A total of 68 non-Hispanic black normotensive and 13 untreated hypertensive participants (age 72 +/- 10 years, 48% female) free of clinical cardiovascular disease completed 24-hour ABP monitoring and a questionnaire that included a modified version of the CARDIA Study Social Support Scale (CSSS). Nondipping was defined as a decrease of <10% in the ratio between average awake and average asleep systolic BP. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, and systolic BP.


RESULTS
The prevalence of nondipping was 26.8% in subjects in the highest CSSS tertile versus 41.1% in the lowest CSSS tertile (p = .009). On adjusted analysis, CSSS was analyzed as a continuous variable and remained independently and inversely associated with nondipping (odds ratio 0.27, 95% Confidence Interval 0.08-0.94, p = .04).


CONCLUSIONS
Social support may be an important predictor of BP dipping at night. These findings suggest that social support may have positive health affects through physiologic (autonomic) pathways.
Rodriguez
Carlos J
CJ
Division of Cardiology, Columbia University, 622 W 168th Street, PH 3-342, New York, NY 10032, USA. cjr10@columbia.edu
Burg
Matthew M
MM
Meng
Joyce
J
Pickering
Thomas G
TG
Jin
Zhezhen
Z
Sacco
Ralph L
RL
Boden-Albala
Bernadette
B
Homma
Shunichi
S
Di Tullio
Marco R
MR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D044383:Black People; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support