Alarmingly high number of Indians are misdiagnosed for High BP- Indian Heart Study

An alarmingly high number of Indians, as many as 42%, are misdiagnosed for high blood pressure (BP), revealed findings of the Indian Heart Study.

The investigators examined the blood pressure of 18,918 participants (male and female) through 1233 doctors across 15 states over a period of nine months. The participants’ blood pressure was monitored at home four times a day for 7 consecutive days.

The study revealed that there is a high prevalence of masked hypertension or high blood pressure and white coat hypertension among Indians which is estimated to be 42% on the first office visit.

The study also pointed out that Indians have a higher average resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute, higher than the desired rate of 72 beats per minute.

The study was led Dr Upendra Kaul, Cardiologist, Chairman, and Dean Academics and Research of Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre (BHMRC), and was conducted over a period of nine months, starting from June 2018 till March 2019. The blood pressure measuring device from Taiwan headquartered Microlife Corporation was used during the study, which has a strategic tie-up with Eris.

In Mumbai out of 1643 participants, 4% of the respondents were oblivious of their high blood pressure levels (masked hypertension) and 8% of respondents were found to have white-coat hypertension and were misdiagnosed.

The study pointed out that in Mumbai women seemed to be more health-conscious as compared to other places where this study was conducted.

In Karnataka, the study found that 12.7% of the respondents were oblivious of their high blood pressure levels (masked hypertension) and 25% of respondents were found to have white-coat hypertension and were misdiagnosed

The study's most startling revelation is that Indians appear to have higher blood pressure in the evenings than in the mornings.

This revelation may guide doctors to rethink the time advised for anti-hypertensive drug dosage. Any treatment for hypertension should also consider the choice of medicine which will help reduce higher heart rate.

"Globally the prevalence of white coat hypertension and masked hypertension is 10-15% and 12-18% respectively," told Dr. Upendra Kaul, who was the Principal Investigator of I.H.S to TOI