Socioeconomic Status, Psychosocial Factors, Race and Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping in a Hispanic Cohort

BACKGROUND Little information is available about the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) to blunted nocturnal ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) dipping among Hispanics and whether this relationship differs by race. We sought to characterize ABP nondipping and its determinants in a sample of Hispanics. METHODS We enrolled 180 Hispanic participants not on antihypertensive medications. SES was defined by years of educational attainment. All participants underwent 24-hour ABP monitoring. A decrease of <10% in the ratio between average awake and average asleep systolic BP was considered nondipping. RESULTS The mean age of the cohort was 67.1 ± 8.7, mean educational level was 9.4 ± 4.4 years, and 58.9% of the cohort was female. The cohort was comprised of 78.3% Caribbean Hispanics with the rest from Mexico and Central/South America; 41.4% self-identified as white Hispanic, 34.4% self-identified as black Hispanic, and 24.4% did not racially self- identify. The percentage of nondippers was 57.8%. Educational attainment (10.5 years vs. 8.6 years; P