Seasonal Variation in Home Blood Pressure Measurements and Relation to Outside Temperature in Japan

Previous studies have suggested that outside temperature affects blood pressure (BP) levels. However, recently, due to a spreading heating system, the seasonal variation in BP levels might be smaller, especially in colder seasons when more heat is used. We used continuous measurements of home BP data to track seasonal variations of BP to analyze the relation between outside temperature and BP values. Among 213 volunteers who were asked to measure BP in September 2000, 79 participants (mean age 72.7 years, 60.0% women) measured BP at least once per month until August 2003 (36 months). The mean number of measurements was 19.0 times/month. Information on outside temperature was provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency. We used general linear models to analyze the relation between outside temperature and BP values. Blood pressure levels were lowest in the warmest months. However, the highest BP levels were not observed in the coldest month, but rather in March. A clear inverse association between temperature and BP values was evident only in periods when outside temperatures were above 10°C. When the outside temperature was ≥ 10°C, 1°C increment of outside temperature correspond to 0.40 and 0.28 mmHg decrease of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), whereas the corresponding values were 0.06 and 0.01 mmHg when the outside temperature was <10°C. In conclusion, inverse association between outside temperature and BP was observed only in warmer seasons.