Chronobiologic analysis of blood pressure variability in healthy subjects

In order to recognize variability as a source of information, 21 automatically monitored blood pressure series from healthy subjects, 19-21 yr of age, taken every 30 min for 48 h, were analyzed. Individual circadian parameters obtained by least squares were subsequently used for the computation of a 90% reference region for the amplitude-acrophase pair. A significant circadian rhythm could be demonstrated in all subjects for systolic blood pressure, in all but one for diastolic blood pressure, and in all but two for heart rate. The results suggest that parameters that include circadian rhythms should be used in place of single values when studying blood pressure variability.<
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