BLOOD-PRESSURE REACTIVITY TO STRESS VARIES BY HYPERTENSIVE STATUS ANDSEX IN NIGERIANS

Previous studies among American and European populations have demonstr ated larger blood pressure responses to behavioral challenges among me n and hypertensive individuals, This is the first report of cardiovasc ular responses to behavioral challenges in a West African population, Blood pressure and heart rate changes in mirror image tracing and spee ch making tasks were recorded for 787 Nigerian civil servants particip ating in a comprehensive blood pressure survey conducted in Benin City , Nigeria, during 1992. Similar to findings in other populations, grea ter task-induced increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diasto lic blood pressure (DBP) were present among men than women (mean value s of SEP = 22.1 vs. 18.3 mmHg, p < 0.001; and DBP means = 13.3 vs, 11. 2 mmHg, p < 0.0001) and among hypertensives than normotensives (SBP me ans = 27.6 vs. 19.2, p < 0.0001; and DBP means = 14.1 vs, 12.1 mmHg, p < 0.05), An elevated prevalence of hypertension among men of higher s taff status has been found in this population; however, higher staff s tatus was not consistently related to cardiovascular reactivity, indep endent of hypertensive status. Additionally, hypertensive men who had speech-induced increases of SEP > 40 mmHg had significantly greater le ft ventricular mass index than did those hypertensive men with smaller SEP increases (p < 0.04). This study demonstrates that measures of ca rdiovascular reactivity to behavioral challenges have cross-cultural a pplication, suggesting the need for further investigations of the inte rrelation of hypertension, cardiovascular reactivity, and left ventric ular mass.