Systolic and diastolic BP increased by 1.79 and 1.30 mm Hg, respectively, during pandemic versus prepandemic period<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n <\/b><\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n THURSDAY, Nov. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For individuals with hypertension, worsening blood pressure (BP) outcomes were seen during the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Nov. 1 in Hypertension<\/em>.<\/p>\n Hiroshi Gotanda, M.D., Ph.D., from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues compared the level and trend (slope) of BP outcomes before the public health emergency declaration (prepandemic period: August 2018 through January 2020) versus after the stay-at-home orders (pandemic period: April 2020 through November 2020) among 137,593 adults with hypertension.<\/p>\n The researchers observed a considerable drop in the number of BP measurements early in the pandemic, followed by a gradual increase. Compared with the prepandemic period, systolic and diastolic BP increased by 1.79 and 1.30 mm Hg, respectively, during the pandemic period. In addition, there was a 3.43 percentage point decrease seen in the proportion of patients with controlled BP. A trend showing increasing control during the prepandemic period flattened during the pandemic period (+3.19 and +0.27 percentage points per year, respectively).<\/p>\n “We expected blood pressure control to be worse due to decreased physical activity, stress, poor sleep, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors that worsened during the pandemic,” Gotanda said in a statement. “But the results were better than we expected, probably because [of] the use of telemedicine and home monitoring of blood pressure.”<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n