The prevalence of masked hypertension in a group of young healthy soldiers.

BACKGROUND To assess the prevalence of masked hypertension (MH) in young Saudi National Guard soldiers based on 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). METHODS A prospective study of 196 soldiers, aged between 21-50 years, without a history of hypertension or antihypertensive medication use. Each participant was fitted with a 24h- ABPM. Patients were considered to have MH if the office blood pressure (OBP) was <140/90 mm Hg and the 24h-ABPM average was ≥130/80 mm Hg. RESULTS The mean age of the MH group was 34.5 years compared to 32.4 years of the normotensive group. By pairing the average OBP with the 24h-ABPM, the prevalence of MH was estimated to be 29/196 (14.8%), with the SBP (systolic blood pressure) and DPB MH (diastolic blood pressure) prevalence 12.8% and 7.7%, respectively. For the systolic blood pressure, the OBP compared with the 24h-ABPM was 120.0 ± 8.1 vs. 134.7 ± 4.5 (p < 0.001) and for the diastolic blood pressure, 70.7 ± 7.0 vs. 79.9 ± 4.2 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of MH among this sample of healthy military soldiers was 14.8%. It is important not to rely solely on the OBP and to consider MH when screening for hypertension in apparently healthy individuals.