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：巴西境内有32.5%的人口罹患高血压，该疾病引发的心血管疾病死亡占所有心血管疾病死亡的50%。对血压进行规范测量与准确解读，是实现精准疾病诊断与有效管理的核心前提。
研究目的：本研究旨在验证巴西南里奥格兰德州（RS）阿雷格里港某私立心血管专科机构的902名患者，其2016年的季节性气温变化与血压波动之间的相关性。
研究方法：本研究对2016年获取的902份动态血压监测（Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, ABPM）结果进行回顾性分析。采用皮尔逊相关系数（Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient）分析血压水平与气温、空气相对湿度的相关性；以α检验水准<0.05、95%置信区间作为显著性判定标准，采用柯尔莫哥洛夫-斯米尔诺夫检验（Kolmogorov-Smirnov test）与夏皮罗-威尔克检验（Shapiro-Wilk test）进行显著性验证。采用方差分析（Analysis of Variance, ANOVA）对902份ABPM结果与本研究获取的连续型变量进行组间对比分析。
研究结果：将902份ABPM结果对应的血压值与气温、空气相对湿度的最小值、均值及最大值进行相关性分析，同时将本研究获取的各项连续型变量与上述血压测量值进行组间对比，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体循环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的内在机制。