Rise of blood pressure value in young patients at first visit at a dental university hospital in Japan

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Hypertension is a risk factor for stroke and heart disease. Psycho-social reasons are thought to influence blood pressure fluctuation in the dental clinic, but no previous studies have investigated these relationships. In this study, we analyzed a correlation between patients’ blood pressure values and their backgrounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We measured blood pressure in 4990 outpatients at our hospital. After determining the age groups in which blood pressure deviated from national averages, patients were classified into the Hypertension group and Normal group. Differences between these groups with regard to the prevalence of systemic disease, dental history and reasons for dental consultation were analyzed. RESULTS: Average systolic blood pressure of males in their 20's, 30's, 40's and females in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's was significantly higher than national averages. In these age groups, disease prevalence was significantly higher in the Hypertension group than in the Normal group. Furthermore, the Hypertension group expressed psycho-social reasons for dental consultation more frequently than the Normal group. CONCLUSION: Relatively younger patients tended to show higher systolic blood pressure. It was suggested that psycho-social backgrounds as well as medical causes influenced the blood pressure increase.