The consistency of circadian blood pressure and heart rate patterns over three months in women employed in sedentary office jobs

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consistency of the circadian patterns of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) variation over a three‐month time frame in women employed outside the home. Methods The subjects were 157 healthy women of varying ethnicity (age = 38.2 ± 8.9) who all worked in similar positions at two major medical centers in New York City. Each wore an ambulatory BP monitor during the course of three mid‐week work days approximately one month apart. Hourly BPs and HRs were calculated from 9 am to 6 am the following morning and compared among the three days using anova and t tests. Results The results indicate that there were virtually no differences in the mean hourly levels of any parameter during the waking period across the three days of assessment. However, mean hourly levels of systolic BP significantly declined from 12 pm to 4 am (P < .04, P = .001, P