White coat effect of alcohol

Numerous studies have shown a relationship between alcohol intake and eleva ted clinic blood pressures (BP). However, there have been few studies on th e relationship between alcohol consumption and 24-h ambulatory BP monitorin g. This study aimed to determine the relationship between alcohol intake, c linic BP, and 24-h ambulatory BP recordings to determine to what extent a w hite coat effect may contribute to the relationship between alcohol consump tion and BP. Clinical BP and 24-h ambulatory BP were measured in 121 male v olunteers aged 50.6 +/- 9.8 years (range, 30-70 years) who consumed between 0 and 2050 g of alcohol per week (mean, 394 +/- 342 g; median, 385 g/week) . Supine clinical systolic BP (SBP) was significantly related to alcohol in take (beta = 0.242; P = .007). Alcohol consumption was not related to 24-h mean SEP or diastolic BP (DBP), daytime SEP or DBP, or nighttime SEP or DBP (daytime SEP: P = 0.02, P = .802). Alcohol intake was significantly relate d to the difference between clinic SEP and mean daytime SEP (beta = 0.260, P = .004). Twenty-four-hour mean heart rate (HR), daytime mean and nighttim e mean HR were strongly associated with alcohol intake (24-h HR: beta = 0.4 55, P <.001). These results suggest that the association between alcohol co nsumption and elevated BP is contributed to by a significant white coat eff ect and that excessive alcohol consumption may be a significant factor in e xplaining differences between clinic and ambulatory BP measurements. Am J H ypertens 2000;13:1135-1138 (C) 2000 American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd.