Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T08:55:22.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Measuring physiological changes in the cardiovascular system: ambulatory blood pressure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2009

Gillian H. Ice
Affiliation:
Ohio University
Gary D. James
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Binghamton
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Blood pressure is the most familiar and probably the most difficult to interpret measure in anthropological studies of stress and human variation. The difficulty in interpretation arises from the use of single blood pressure measurements as an indicator of stress. The dogma that each person has specific blood pressure numbers that can be used to ascertain pathology (see for example, JNCVII, 2003) has directed the attention of anthropological researchers to the between-individual distribution of these numbers as a means of studying the evolutionary and health effects of stress on blood pressure, and away from the enormous within-individual variation that actually characterizes the adaptive value of blood pressure as it responds to the dynamic stressors of everyday living (James, 1991; Pickering, 1991).

Some 35 years ago, ambulatory monitors were developed which could capture intra-individual diurnal variation in blood pressure (James, 1991). Hundreds of subsequent studies that have employed ambulatory monitoring have shown that a myriad of external environmental stressors, cognitive processes and behavior contribute substantially to the intra-individual diurnal variation in blood pressure. It is this variation that allows people to adapt to the constantly changing challenges that define their everyday life. It is also this variation that is an important contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the issues, methods, and techniques that are related to the study of diurnal blood pressure variation as it occurs in response to the tribulations of everyday life using ambulatory blood pressure monitors.

Type
Chapter
Information
Measuring Stress in Humans
A Practical Guide for the Field
, pp. 158 - 180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AAMI (1992). Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation: American National Standards for Electronic or Augmented Sphygmomanometers, 2nd edn, Arlington, VA.
Blank, S. G. (1987). The Korotkoff signal and its relationship to the arterial pressure pulse. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Cornell University Medical College.
Blank, S. G., West, J. E., Muller, F. B.et al. (1991). Characterization of auscultatory gaps with wideband external pulse recording. Hypertension, 17, 225–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brondolo, E., Karlin, W., Alexander, K., Bubrow, A. and Schwartz, J. (1999). Workday communication and ambulatory blood pressure: implications for the reactivity hypothesis. Psychophysiology, 36, 86–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, D. E., James, G. D. and Nordloh, L. (1998). Comparison of factors affecting daily variation of blood pressure in Filipino-American and Caucasian nurses in Hawaii. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 106, 373–83.3.0.CO;2-N>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, D. E., James, G. D., Nordloh, L. and Jones, A. A. (2003). Job strain and physiological stress responses in nurses and nurse's aides: predictors of daily blood pressure variability. Blood Pressure Monitoring, 8, 237–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, W. B. (1915). Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage: An Account of Recent Researches into the Functions of Emotional Excitement. New York: Appleton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, L. A., Denby, L. and Pregibon, D. (1989). Data analysis of ambulatory blood pressure readings before p values. In Handbook of Research Methods in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine, ed. Schneiderman, N., Weiss, S. M. and Kaufman, P.. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 317–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, L. A., Denby, L., Pregibon, D.et al. (1987). A data-based method for bivariate outlier detection: application to automatic blood pressure recording devices. Psychophysiology, 24, 119–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Franklin, S. S., Sowers, J. R. and Batzdorf, U. (1986). Relationship between arterial blood pressure and plasma norepinephrine levels in a patient with neurogenic hypertension. American Journal of Medicine, 81, 1105–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gump, B. B., Polk, D. E., Kamarck, T. W. and Shiffman, S. (2001). Partner interactions are associated with reduced blood pressure in the natural environment: ambulatory blood pressure monitoring evidence from a healthy, multiethnic adult sample. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 423–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harshfield, G. A., Hwang, C., Blank, S. G. and Pickering, T. G. (1989). Research techniques for ambulatory monitoring. In Handbook of Research Methods in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine, ed., Schneiderman, N., Weiss, S. M. and Kaufman, P.. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 293–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harshfield, G. A., James, G. D., Schlussel, Y.et al. (1988). Do laboratory tests of blood pressure reactivity predict blood pressure variability in real life?American Journal of Hypertension, 1, 168–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ice, G. H., James, G. D. and Crews, D. E. (2003). Blood pressure variation in the institutionalized elderly. Collegium Antropologicum, 27, 47–55.Google ScholarPubMed
Jacob, R. G., Thayer, J. F., Manuck, S. B.et al. (1999). Ambulatory blood pressure responses and the circumplex model of mood: a 4-day study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 319–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, G. D. (1991). Blood pressure response to the daily stressors of urban environments: methodology, basic concepts and significance. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 34, 189–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, G. D. (2001). Evaluation of journals, diaries, and indexes of worksite and environmental stress. In Contemporary Cardiology: Blood Pressure Monitoring in Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics, ed. White, W. B.. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, pp. 29–44.Google Scholar
James, G. D. and Brown, D. E. (1997). The biological stress response and lifestyle: catecholamines and blood pressure. Annual Review of Anthropology, 26, 313–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, G. D. and Pecker, M. S. (1994). Aging and blood pressure, In Biological Anthropology and Aging: An Emerging Synthesis, ed. Crews, D. E. and Garruto, R. M.. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 321–38.Google Scholar
James, G. D. and Pickering, G. D. (1993). The influence of behavioral factors on the daily variation of blood pressure. American Journal of Hypertension, 6, 170S–74S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, G. D., Pickering, T. G., Yee, L. S.et al. (1988). The reproducibility of average ambulatory, home, and clinic pressure. Hypertension, 11, 545–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, G. D., Schlussel, Y. R. and Pickering, T. G. (1993). The association between daily blood pressure and catecholamine variability in normotensive working women. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 55–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, G. D., Yee, L. S., Harshfield, G. A., Blank, S. and Pickering, T. G. (1986). The influence of happiness, anger and anxiety on the blood pressure of borderline hypertensives. Psychosomatic Medicine, 48(6), 502–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
JNCVII (2003). The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, Bethesda, MD: NIH Publication No. 03–5233.
Kamarck, T. W., Schiffman, S. M., Smithline, L.et al. (1998). Effects of task strain, social conflict, on ambulatory cardiovascular activity: life consequences of recurring stress in a multiethnic adult sample. Health Psychology, 17, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamarck, T. W., Schwartz, J. E., Janiki, D. L., Schiffman, S. and Raynor, D. A. (2003). Correspondence between laboratory and ambulatory measures of cardiovascular reactivity: a multilevel modeling approach. Psychophysiology, 40, 675–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laragh, J. H. and Brenner, B. M. (1995). Hypertension: Pathophysiology Diagnosis and Management. New York: Raven.Google Scholar
Linden, W., Gerin, W. and Davidson, K. (2003). Cardiovascular reactivity: Status quo and a research agenda for the new millennium. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 5–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, E., Beevers, G. and Lip, G. Y. (2001). ABC of hypertension. Blood pressure measurement. Part III. Automated sphygmomanometry: ambulatory blood pressure measurement. British Medical Journal, 322, 1110–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, E. and O'Malley, K. (1990). Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: a review of validation data. Journal of Hypertension Supplement, 8(6), S11–S16.Google ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, E., Petrie, J., Littler, W.et al. (1993). An outline of the revised British Hypertension Society protocol for the evaluation of blood pressure measuring devices. Journal of Hypertension, 11, 677–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Rourke, M. F. (1990). What is blood pressure?American Journal of Hypertension, 3, 803–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perloff, D., Sokolow, M., Cowan, R. M. and Juster, R. P. (1989). Prognostic value of ambulatory blood pressure measurements: Further analysis. Journal of Hypertension, 7(Supplement 3), S3–S10.Google Scholar
Pickering, T. G. (1991). Ambulatory Monitoring and Blood Pressure Variability. London: Science
Pickering, T. G. (1995). Modern definitions and clinical expressions of hypertension. In Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management, ed. Laragh, J. H. and Brenner, B. M.. New York: Raven, pp. 17–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pickering, T. G. and Blank, S. G. (1995). Blood pressure measurement and ambulatory pressure monitoring: Evaluation of available equipment. In Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management, ed. Laragh, J. H. and Brenner, B. M.. New York: Raven, pp. 1939–52.Google Scholar
Pickering, T. G. and Gerin, W. (1990). Cardiovascular reactivity in the laboratory and the role of behavioral factors in hypertension: a critical review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 3–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pickering, T. G., Harshfield, G. A., Kleinert, H. D., Blank, S. and Laragh, J. H. (1982). Blood pressure during normal daily activities, sleep and exercise. Comparison of values in normal and hypertensive subjects. Journal of the American Medical Association, 247, 992–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pickering, T. G. and James, G. D. (1994). Ambulatory blood pressure and prognosis. Journal of Hypertension, 12(Supplement 8), S29–S33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pickering, T. G., James, G. D., Boddie, C.et al., (1998). How common is white coat hypertension?Journal of the American Medical Association, 259, 225–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portaluppi, P. and Smolensky, M. H. (2001). Circadian rhythm and environmental determinants of blood pressure regulation in normal and hypertensive conditions. In Contemporary Cardiology: Blood Pressure Monitoring in Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics, ed. White, W. B.. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, pp. 79–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowell, L. B. (1986). Human Circulation: Regulation During Physical Stress. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schwartz, J. E., Warren, K. and Pickering, T. G. (1994). Mood, location and physical position as predictors of ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate: Application of a multilevel random effects model. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 16, 210–20.Google Scholar
Selye, H. (1956). The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Sterling, P. (2004). Principals of allostasis: optimal design, predictive regulation, pathophysiology, and rationale therapeutics. In Allostasis, Homeostasis and the Costs of Physiological Adaptation, ed. Schulkin, J.. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp.17–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sterling, P. and Eyer, J. (1988). Allostasis: a new paradigm to explain arousal pathology. In Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health, ed. Fisher, S. and Reason, J.. New York: Wiley, pp. 629–49.Google Scholar
Stone, A. A., Shiffman, S., Schwartz, J. E., Broderick, J. E. and Hufford, M. R. (2003). Patient compliance with paper and electronic diaries. Control Clinical Trials, 24, 182–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verdeccia, P. and Schillaci, G. (2001). Prognostic value of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. In Contemporary Cardiology: Blood Pressure Monitoring in Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics, ed. White, W. B.. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, pp. 191–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verdeccia, P., Schillaci, G., Borgioni, C.et al. (1995). Gender, day–night blood pressure changes and left ventricular mass in essential hypertension: dippers and peakers. American Journal of Hypertension, 8, 193–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, W. B. (2001). Contemporary Cardiology: Blood Pressure Monitoring in Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, W. B., Berson, A. S., Robbins, C.et al. (1993). National standard for measurement of resting and ambulatory blood pressures with automated sphygmomanometers. Hypertension, 21, 504–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, W. B., Susser, W., James, G. D.et al. (1994). Multicenter assessment of the QuietTrak ambulatory blood pressure recorder according to the 1992 AAMI guidelines. American Journal of Hypertension, 7, 509–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×