Neighborhood problems and nocturnal blood pressure dipping.
OBJECTIVE
Living in adverse neighborhood conditions has been linked with greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to learn whether perceived neighborhood problems are related to attenuated nocturnal blood pressure (BP) dipping, a risk factor for CVD morbidity.


METHODS
A sample of 133 adults (71 male, 62 female; 80 White, 53 Black) underwent 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The neighborhood problem scale (NPS) was used to assess neighborhood environmental stressors.


RESULTS
Nocturnal dipping in systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) and mean arterial (MAP) blood pressure was reduced in individuals with higher NPS scores (p < .05). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that neighborhood problems explained 4%-6% of the variance in SBP, DBP, and MAP dipping (p < .05) even after adjusting for several theoretical confounders such as social status, age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), smoking, exercise, depression and discrimination.


CONCLUSIONS
Neighborhood problems may contribute to attenuated BP dipping beyond the effect of known risk factors.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.
Frank
F
Euteneuer
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.
Paul J
PJ
Mills
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.
Meredith A
MA
Pung
Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps Universität.
Winfried
W
Rief
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego.
Joel E
JE
Dimsdale
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*