The Influence of Seasonal Temperature Variation on Blood Pressure Behavior

Abstract Background: Hypertension in Brazil affects 32.5% of the population, accounting for 50% of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The correct measurement and interpretation of blood pressure are essential for attaining an adequate disease diagnosis and management. Objective: To verify the correlation between the seasonal temperature variation during 2016 and blood pressure variation in 902 patients of a private Cardiology Service in the city of Porto Alegre/RS. Method: A total of 902 ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) results were analyzed in 2016. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was used to correlate blood pressure levels with the values of temperature and relative air humidity; the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were adopted for significance values, assuming an alpha error < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval. The Analysis of Variance compared the 902 ABPM results with the continuous variables obtained for this study. Results: No statistically significant differences were found when the blood pressure values obtained from the 902 ABPM results were correlated with the minimum, mean and maximum values of temperature and relative air humidity, and also when each of the continuous variables obtained for this study were compared with these same pressure measurements. Conclusion: Despite the great variation in temperature and relative air humidity throughout the year in the region, there was no significant influence on the systemic arterial pressure in the study population. New comparative studies in the same population with different thermal variations may provide further clarification on this subject.

摘要 背景：巴西高血压患者占总人口的32.5%，其心血管疾病相关死亡中有50%可归因于高血压。血压的正确测量与解读对于实现精准的疾病诊断与管理至关重要。
研究目的：本研究旨在探讨巴西南里奥格兰德州阿雷格里港某私立心脏科门诊的902例患者，其血压变化与2016年季节性气温变化之间的相关性。
研究方法：本研究共分析2016年获取的902份动态血压监测（Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring，ABPM）结果。采用皮尔逊相关系数分析血压水平与气温、空气相对湿度的相关性；采用柯尔莫哥洛夫-斯米尔诺夫检验与夏皮罗-威尔克检验评估数据分布特征，设定Ⅰ类错误概率<0.05，置信区间为95%。采用方差分析对902份ABPM结果与本研究获取的连续型变量进行比较。
研究结果：对902份ABPM获取的血压值与气温、空气相对湿度的最小值、均值及最大值进行相关性分析，以及将本研究获取的各项连续型变量与上述血压测量值进行比较后，均未发现具有统计学意义的差异。
研究结论：尽管该区域全年气温与空气相对湿度存在显著波动，但并未对研究人群的全身动脉血压产生显著影响。后续可针对同一人群开展不同热环境变化下的对比研究，以进一步阐明该问题。