UNMASKING THE MASKED HYPERTENSION IN BULGARIAN POPULATION

Objective: Masked hypertension is defined as a clinical condition in which a patient’s office blood pressure (BP) level is <140/90 mm Hg but ambulatory or home BP readings are in the hypertensive range. It is often a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Design and method: We studied 1448 hypertensive patients from 61 Bulgarian towns, using a mobile app (Kravnoto Mi® developed by Gedeon Richter- Bulgaria) for sharing the home BP readings. 54% of them were male and 46% were female. Over 50% of the patients were aged 45-65 years. 66% of them were already on antihypertensive therapy Results: Masked hypertension was identified in 11.8% of the participants. The condition was more prevalent in female than in male patients (16.4% vs 8.7%). The difference was statistically significant (p <0,001). At the end of the study, 64% of the hypertensive patients had achieved BP level <130/80 mm Hg. 75% of the patients reported that the app was user friendly and 58.8% were confident that they will continue to use it. 94.5% of the participating physicians were satisfied with the app. Conclusions: The incidence of the masked hypertension in the Bulgarian population was similar to the one reported in the bigger studies and reviews. The mobile app was a useful tool for detection of mask hypertension and also for optimization of antihypertensive therapy and achievement of BP control.