Changes in Blood Pressure and Measurement Frequency as Well as Heart Rate in Hypertensive Patients That Needed to Be Medical Observation at Home：a Cross-sectional Study in Wuhan

ABSTRACT

Background There were many hypertensive patients at non-high risk of developing COVID-19 that needed to be medical observation at home, but the changes in their blood pressure and measurement frequency as well as heart rate during the period are still unclear. Objective To perform an analysis of the changes in blood pressure and measurement frequency as well as heart rate in hypertensive patients that needed to be medical observation at home. Methods Through the iHealth cloud platform, data〔including age, sex, systolic blood pressure（SBP） and diastolic blood pressure（DBP）measured by the iHealth Clear （BPM1） at home, and heart rate〕were collected from December 1st, 2019 to March 27th, 2020, involving all hypertensive patients in Wuhan who had an ID number for consecutively uploading blood pressure readings, and were desensitized for removing the confidential information. The features of blood pressure during the period were analyzed. ARIMAX model was used to assess the association of age, sex, number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per day, cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths, time granularity and the traffic control with participants' blood pressure and hear rates. Results In total, blood pressure readings of 36 472 measurements by the participants using 1 232 iHealth Clear （BPM1） were collected during the 118-day period. Men demonstrated higher mean SBP, DBP and heart rate than women（P<0.05）. After January 23, 2020, the mean SBP of the participants decreased from （141±19）mm Hg to （138±18）mm Hg（P<0.05）. The analysis using the ARIMAX model revealed that after adjusting for month, week, age and number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per day, male participants showed a decrease in blood pressure（βSBP=-1.08×10-3, P=0.028, βDBP=-6.35×10-4, P=0.002）, and an increase in heart rate （βHR=2.02, P=0.003）and measurement frequency （βtimes=0.035, P=0.002）. But no significant changes were seen in females（P<0.05）. Conclusion In general, among hypertensive patients that needed to be medical observation at home, males were found with higher mean SBP, DBP, heart rate and blood pressure measurement frequency. And these hypertensive patients were found with decreased SBP and DBP after the implementation of traffic control. Using the Internet to store blood pressure data measured by the home blood pressure monitor for data assessment and treatment, is contribute to out-of-hospital management of blood pressure in hypertensive patients, which demonstrates the significance of Internet in combination with healthcare. © 2022 Chinese General Practice. All rights reserved.