Fig 1.
Flowchart of study population.
Complete beat-to-beat BP data was available in 4462 participants of whom 1184 reported a physician’s diagnosis of hypertension (HTN) and were receiving treatment. A total of 536 participants were receiving single agent therapy with a renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system inhibitor, beta-blocker, calcium channel blocker or diuretic. The reference group consisted of 783 participants with grade 1 hypertension who were not receiving any anti-hypertensive therapy.
Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population.
Table 2.
Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of initial orthostatic hypotension and sustained orthostatic hypotension for each class of antihypertensive agent.
Fig 2.
Plot of odds ratios (with 95% confidence interval) of orthostatic hypotension (OH) at 30, 60, 90 and 110 seconds post active stand for each antihypertensive agent.
Each point estimate represents the fully adjusted odds of OH for a particular antihypertensive agent compared to the odds of OH for the reference group. Individuals receiving beta-blocker therapy had an approximately three-fold increased odds of OH at each time point compared to untreated participants. The odds ratios for the other three agents were not statistically significant (error bounds cross the reference line). CCB, calcium channel blocker; RAAS, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system.
Fig 3.
Fully adjusted estimate (95% confidence interval) of mean difference in systolic blood pressure (y-axis) at each 10-second interval during the active stand (x-axis).
Each antihypertensive agent was compared to the reference group. The confidence interval for the beta-blocker group did not overlap the point estimate for the reference group. The confidence intervals for the other antihypertensive agents consistently overlapped the point estimate for the reference group. CCB, calcium channel blocker; RAAS, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system; SBP, systolic blood pressure.
Fig 4.
Fully adjusted estimate (95% confidence interval) of mean difference in diastolic blood pressure (y-axis) at each 10-second interval during the active stand (x-axis).
As in Fig 2, each antihypertensive agent was compared to untreated grade 1 hypertension. The confidence interval for the beta-blocker group did not overlap the point estimate for the reference group. The confidence intervals for the other antihypertensive agents consistently overlapped the point estimate for the reference group. CCB, calcium channel blocker; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; RAAS, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system.