Diurnal blood pressure profiles in night shift workers with incipient changes of blood pressure level

: Aim. To study diurnal blood pressure profiles (DBPP) during work in different time of the day including nocturnal hours in persons with initial stages of blood pressure (BP) increase or decrease. Material and methods. The study cohort consisted of 995 locomotive drivers (46682 BP measurements) divided into groups with normal BP, higher normal BP, 1st stage arterial hypertension, and hypotension. DBPP was analyzed on the basis of the averaged curve for each group. Results. The averaged systolic DBPP in the normotonic group was of non-dipper type, while diastolic one was on the border between non-dipper and night-peaker. Patients with elevated BP and trend to BP elevation (beginning with higher normal BP) had reduced nocturnal BP lowering, particularly of diastolic BP. Its diurnal profile was clearly of night-peaker type. The main feature of DBPP in patients with hypotension was absence of evening BP rise characteristic for persons with normal BP and hypertension.