24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in elderly normotensive individuals and its reproducibility after one year.

ABSTRACT

To study ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and its reproducibility in healthy normotensive elderly subjects, 34 individuals were randomly selected. Their ages were 65 years (n = 10), 70 years (n = 10), 75 years (n = 8) and 80 years (n = 6). SpaceLabs 90207 system was used and one initial and a follow-up measurement after one year was performed. It was found that 24h ABP easily could be recorded in elderly subjects. A mean of 97% of the measurements were successful and only two of 34 subjects dropped out because of measurement failures. Nocturnal blood pressures were lower in all age groups and in both sexes. The standard deviations of the differences between the baseline and one year measurements were for the daytime period 8/4 mmHg and for the nighttime period 12/8 mmHg. In conclusion, ABP is easily accepted as a clinical method in normotensive elderly subjects. In all subjects there is a reduction of the nocturnal blood pressure and the reproducibility of ABP after one year is good.