Prevalence and Predictors of White Coat Hypertension among Newly-Diagnosed Hypertensive Patients in a Tertiary Health Centre in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Failure to diagnose and adequately classify newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients may lead to non-recognition of White Coat Hypertension (WCH) and inappropriate use of antihypertensive medications. This study determined the prevalence and predictors of white coat hypertension among newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients in a tertiary health centre in Nigeria. METHODS: One hundred and twenty newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients and 120 controls were recruited for the study. All the participants had 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) using an oscillometric device (CONTEC®). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. RESULTS: Out of 120 patients, 52 were males and the mean age was 44.2 ± 9.7 years whereas of the 120 controls, 53 were males and the mean age was 44.0 ± 7.5 years. The mean body mass index of the patients, BMI (27.0 ± 4.5kg/m(2)) was higher than control (24.1 ± 4.5kg/m(2)), p-value <0.001. The prevalence of WCH was 36.7%. The mean age and BMI of those with WCH were 43.3 ± 11.4 years and 26.4 ± 4.5kg/m2 respectively. Females constituted a greater proportion (70.5%). In multivariate analysis, high level of education and being overweight or obese were significant determinants of WCH. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of WCH existed among participants studied. High level of education and being obese were predictors of white coat hypertension. Hence, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring should be included as part of routine work-up for newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients in order to limit the number of those who may be committed to lifelong antihypertensive medications with its unwanted side effects.