IJCS | Volume 32, Nº6, November / December 2019

DOI: 10.5935/2359-4802.20190038 615 ORIGINAL ARTICLE International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2019;32(6):615-622 Mailing Address: Cezar Roberto Van Der Sand Doutor Nilo Peçanha, 106/1207. Postal Code: 90470-000, Petrópolis, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil. E-mail: cezarsand@gmail.com The Influence of Seasonal Temperature Variation on Blood Pressure Behavior Juliana Ribas Escosteguy, 1 M urilo Beskow, 1 C ezar Roberto Van Der Sand 1 Universidade do Vale do Taquari UNIVATES, 1 Lajeado, RS - Brazil Manuscript received March 02, 2018; revised manuscript September 11, 2018; accepted September 24, 2018. Abstract Background: Hypertension in Brazil affects 32.5% of the population, accounting for 50% of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The correct measurement and interpretation of blood pressure are essential for attaining an adequate disease diagnosis and management. Objective: To verify the correlation between the seasonal temperature variation during 2016 and blood pressure variation in 902 patients of a private Cardiology Service in the city of Porto Alegre/RS. Method: A total of 902 ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) results were analyzed in 2016. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was used to correlate blood pressure levels with the values of temperature and relative air humidity; the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were adopted for significance values, assuming an alpha error < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval. The Analysis of Variance compared the 902 ABPM results with the continuous variables obtained for this study. Results: No statistically significant differences were found when the blood pressure values obtained from the 902 ABPM results were correlated with the minimum, mean and maximum values of temperature and relative air humidity, and also when each of the continuous variables obtained for this study were compared with these same pressure measurements. Conclusion: Despite the great variation in temperature and relative air humidity throughout the year in the region, there was no significant influence on the systemic arterial pressure in the study population. New comparative studies in the same population with different thermal variations may provide further clarification on this subject. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2019;32(6):615-622) Keywords: Blood Pressure; Climate Change; Risk Factors; Risk Assessment; Seasons; Humidity. Introduction According to data obtained from the 7 th Brazilian Guideline ofArterialHypertension, ArterialHypertension (AH) in Brazil affects 32.5% of the adult population (36 million), and more than 60% of this population consists of elderly individuals. This condition contributes directly or indirectly to 50% of deaths from cardiovascular disease, and for this reason it is considered a public health problem. Due to this fact, the correct measurement and interpretation of systemic arterial pressure are essential for the adequate diagnosis and management of hypertension. 1 Risk factors such as age, overweight and obesity, socioeconomic factors, excessive salt intake, chronic and high consumption of alcoholic beverages and sedentary lifestyle effectively contribute to the development of AH. The influence of climatic factors (seasonality, temperature, relative air humidity and others) as a risk factor for AH development is not well established. Few studies have been carried out to verify the influence of temperature variation throughout the year on the development of arterial hypertension, but this correlation is still unclear and requires further studies. 1-4 Amoah et al., 5 reported that an increase in the sympathetic system activity is correlatedwith higher blood pressure readings