Borderline hypertension: a psychophysiologic approach

Abstract

Stress is a condition capable of causing complex psychobehavioral and psychobiological responses, during which blood pressure can reach pathological values. The study reported here investigated the correlation among physiological responses to stress, psychobehavioral assessments, and borderline hypertension. We developed a psychobehavioral questionnaire and submitted patients to a battery of four stressors (mental arithmetic, Sacks's test, white noise, and electric stimulus). We measured levels of muscular contractions, skin conductance, digital temperature, heart rate, and systolic, mean, and diastolic blood pressures. Abnormal psychobehavioral traits and abnormal profiles of physiological responses are more common among borderline hypertensive patients and among patients with a family history of hypertension. The data obtained seem to suggest an interaction of the central nervous system, psyche, and the autonomic nervous system in the origin of hypertension.