The effect of hormone therapy on mean blood pressure and visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in postmenopausal women: results from the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trials.

ABSTRACT: Mean and visit-to-visit variability (VVV) of blood pressure (BP) are associated with an increased cardiovascular disease risk. We examined the effect of hormone therapy on mean and VVV of BP in postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized controlled trials.BP was measured at baseline and annually in the two WHI hormone therapy trials, in which 10?739 and 16?608 postmenopausal women were randomized to conjugated equine estrogens (CEEs, 0.625?mg/day) or placebo, and CEEs and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA, 2.5?mg/day) or placebo, respectively.At the first annual visit (year 1), mean SBP was 1.04?mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58, 1.50] and 1.35?mmHg (95% CI 0.99, 1.72) higher in the CEEs and CEEs and MPA arms, respectively, compared with the corresponding placebos. These effects remained stable after year 1. CEEs also increased the VVV of SBP (ratio of VVV in CEEs vs. placebo, 1.03; P?

SUBMITTER: Shimbo D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4180281 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature