title: Anxiety, Stress-Related Factors, and Blood Pressure in Young Adults.
abstract: Hypertension (HT) is a long-term medical condition characterized by persistently elevated blood pressure (BP) in the arterial vessels. Although HT initially is an asymptomatic condition, it chronically evolves into a major risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal diseases that, in turn, represent crucial causes of morbidity and mortality in industrialized countries. HT is a complex disorder that is estimated to affect more than a quarter of the world's adult population. It is classified on the basis of both its pathophysiology (primary and secondary HT) and on the resting BP values (elevated systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure). It originates from a complicated interaction of genes and several environmental risk factors including aging, smoking, lack of exercise, overweight and obesity, elevated salt intake, stress, depression, and anxiety. Anxiety and depressive disorders are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders, affecting millions of people each year and impairing every aspect of everyday life, both of them characterized by affective, cognitive, psychomotor, and neurovegetative symptoms. Moreover, work-related stress has been considered as an important risk factor for HT and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Although different authors have investigated and suggested possible relations between HT, stress, anxiety, and depression during the last decades, a full understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms has not been satisfactorily achieved, especially in young adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of anxiety and work-related stress in the development of HT amongst young health care profession students and the possible related consequences of early CVDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, European University of Rome Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, European University of Rome Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Pasquale Ceratti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, European University of Rome Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fiz-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcangeli
keywords: anxiety; blood pressure; health care professions; health promotion; occupational medicine; students; work-related stress; workplace