BEAT Survey: A Cross-sectional Study of Resting Heart Rate in Young (18-55 Year) Hypertensive Patients

Background: Studies in Caucasian population have shown that sustained elevation of heart rate (HR) is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI). However, resting HR is not so well-studied in Indian hypertensive patients. Materials and Methods: BEAT is a cross-sectional survey to evaluate the resting HR in young (18–55 years) patients in India. Also study aims to correlate it with age, BP and body mass index (BMI) along with smoking habit and past medical history like coronary artery disease. Results: A total of 3743 patients (mean age 45.69 ± 6.86 years; males 66.52%) were enrolled in study. Of them, 886 (23.67%) were diabetic, 712 (19.02%) had history of coronary artery disease and 818 (21.85%) had history of ever smoking. The average BMI was 26.15 (3.92) with majority of patients falling in either obese (19.85%) or overweight (53.42%) category. The average resting HR and BP were 82.79 ± 10.41 bpm and 146.82 ± 15.46 / 89.08 ± 8.8 mmHg. HR was found to have correlation with SBP (r = 0.247, p <0.01), DBP (r =0.219, p < 0.01); to lower extent with BMI (r = 0.041, p <0.05); but not with age (r = -0.012, NS). Conclusion: The resting HR is elevated in the Indian hypertensive patients. It was found to have correlation with BP and to lesser extent with BMI, whereas there was no correlation with age. The chronically elevated HR even in patients under treatment may have implication on cardiovascular mortality and morbidity.