Blood Pressure Variability at Annual Periodic Health Examination for Employees and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

The employees with hypertension at the annual periodic healthexamination (HE) for employees in Japan usually receive a re-examinationof blood pressure (BP) on another day and are often found tobe normotensive. In this study, we analyzed data from the HEat the workplace to determine whether or not such employeesshould receive medical care. Two groups of subjects were selected.One group (group 1) was composed of 50 subjects with normotensionat the HE (controls). Another group (group 2) was composed of33 subjects with hypertension at the annual HE but with normotensionin re-examinations. Cardiovascular risk factors were significantlyhigher in group 2 than in group 1: mean values of the body massindex (group 1, 22.2±2.7 vs. group 2, 24.3±3.1kg/m² p<0.01), total cholesterol (group 1, 197±36vs. group 2, 222±42 mg/dl, p<0.01), and low densitylipoprotein (group 1, 118±32 vs. group 2, 137±38mg/dl, p<0.05). The proportion of the employees with high-normalBP in group 2 (42.5%) was significantly higher than that ingroup 1 (28.0%) (p<0.01). These indicate that the employeeswith hypertension at the annual HE but with normotension inthe re-examination require further medical attention and shouldreceive medical supervision. The occupational physician shouldsupervise these employees.