Home-measured blood pressure is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular risk than office blood pressure: the Finn-Home study

Abstract

Previous studies with some limitations have provided equivocal results for the prognostic significance of home-measured blood pressure (BP). We investigated whether home-measured BP is more strongly associated with cardiovascular events and total mortality than is office BP. A prospective nationwide study was initiated in 2000 to 2001 on 2081 randomly selected subjects aged 45 to 74 years. Home and office BP were determined at baseline along with other cardiovascular risk factors. The primary end point was incidence of a cardiovascular event (cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery). The secondary end point was total mortality. After a mean follow-up of 6.8 years, 162 subjects had experienced a cardiovascular event, and 118 subjects had died. In Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for other cardiovascular risk factors, office BP (systolic/diastolic hazard ratio [HR] per 10/5 mm Hg increase in BP, 1.13/1.13; systolic/diastolic 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 1.22/1.05 to 1.22) and home BP (HR, 1.23/1.18; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.34/1.10 to 1.27) were predictive of cardiovascular events. However, when both BPs were simultaneously included in the models, only home BP (HR, 1.22/1.15; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.37/1.05 to 1.26), not office BP (HR, 1.01/1.06; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.12/0.97 to 1.16), was predictive of cardiovascular events. Systolic home BP was the sole predictor of total mortality (HR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01/1.23). Our findings suggest that home-measured BP is prognostically superior to office BP. On the basis of the results of this and previous studies, it can be concluded that home BP measurement offers specific advantages more than conventional office measurement.