High prevalence of masked uncontrolled morning hypertension in elderly non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients: Home blood pressure substudy of the ANAFIE Registry

In the ANAFIE Registry home blood pressure subcohort, we evaluated 5204 patients aged >= 75 years with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) to assess blood pressure (BP) control, prevalence of masked hypertension, and anticoagulant use. Mean clinic (C) and home (H) systolic/diastolic BP(SBP/DBP) was 128.5/71.3 and 127.7/72.6 mm Hg, respectively. Overall, 77.5% of patients had hypertension; of these, 27.7%, 13.4%, 23.4%, and 35.6% had well-controlled, white coat, masked, and sustained hypertension, respectively. Masked hypertension prevalence increased with diabetes, decreased renal function, age >= 80 years, current smoker status, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. By morning/evening average, 59.0% of patients had mean H-SBP >= 125 mm Hg; 48.9% had mean C-SBP >= 130 mm Hg. Early morning hypertension (morning H-SBP >= 125 mm Hg) was found in 65.9% of patients. Although 51.1% of patients had well-controlled C-SBP, 52.5% of these had uncontrolled morning H-SBP. In elderly NVAF patients, morning H-BP was poorly controlled, and masked uncontrolled morning hypertension remains significant.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the blood pressure control in elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, finding that morning home blood pressure was poorly controlled in these patients, and masked uncontrolled morning hypertension was still significant.