BP control affected by COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on blood pressure (BP) control, as shown in a study using ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). 

A team of investigators collected office BP and ABPM data from two visits conducted within a 9–15 months interval from patients being treated for hypertension. In the prepandemic group, both visits were done before the pandemic period. In the pandemic group, visits 1 and 2 took place before and during the pandemic period, respectively. 

A total of 1,811 patients were identified, of whom 191 were excluded for not meeting the required ABPM time frames. Overall, 704 patients from the pandemic group and 916 from the prepandemic group were included in the analysis. 

There were no between-group differences in age, sex, hypertension duration, frequency of first-line antihypertensive drug use, and mean 24-h BP on visit 1. Both groups also had a similar prevalence of sustained uncontrolled hypertension. 

On visit 2, the pandemic group showed higher mean 24-h BP, daytime and night-time systolic and diastolic BP than the prepandemic group (p<0.034). The pandemic group also had a higher prevalence of sustained uncontrolled hypertension than the prepandemic group (0.29 vs 0.25; p<0.037). 

In addition, multivariate analyses revealed a significant difference in BP visit-to-visit change, with a more profound BP reduction between visits in the prepandemic cohort. 

The results stress the need for “developing strategies to maintain BP control during a pandemic such as the one induced by COVID-19,” according to the investigators.