Seasonal variation in home blood pressure: findings from nationwide web-based monitoring in Japan

OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to assess seasonal variation in home blood pressure (BP) among free-living nationwide participants using home BP values accumulated from a web-based healthcare platform established in Japan. SETTINGS: An observational study. OMRON Healthcare Co., Ltd. has been developing web-based personal healthcare record systems in Japan since November 2010; over two million voluntary participants had joined this platform in September 2015. Nationwide home BP measurements made by oscillometric-type electronic sphygmomanometers from over 110 000 voluntary participants have been transmitted to the system from devices. PARTICIPANTS: Seasonal variation in home BP was evaluated among 64 536 (51 335 men, 13 201 women; mean age 52.9 years) free-living nationwide users for whom data were automatically and simultaneously transmitted to the system from devices. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean monthly and weekly home BP. RESULTS: In multiple regression analysis, the relationship between BP and temperature was a significant inverse association, independent of age, gender and geological locations. Highest and lowest BP was observed in December and July, respectively. Substantial seasonal differences in the mean values of morning and evening home systolic BP between summer and winter were 6.2 mmHg and 5.5 mmHg in men, and 7.3 mmHg and 6.5 mmHg in women. Seasonal variation was a little greater in older (7.3 mmHg in men, 8.7 mmHg in women) than in younger individuals (5.8 mmHg in men, 6.5 mmHg in women). BP from February to July was approximately 1.5 mmHg lower than the value from August to December. CONCLUSIONS: A web-based healthcare platform has enabled easier monitoring of population-wide BP. Tighter BP control is necessary in winter than in summer, and especially in a colder climate toward winter than toward summer. New technologies using web-based self-monitoring systems for health-related indexes are expected to initiate a new phase of cardiovascular disease prevention and public health promotion.