According to a new study published in the British Journal of General Practice, analysis of blood pressure profiles of patients using data science and machine learning methods can help detect hypertension. The study is authored by leading experts from the University of Oxford. For the study, researchers used data science methodology and machine learning techniques to analyze the vital sign measurements of over 20,000 hospitalized patients.
The study revealed that night-time blood pressure assessment is important in diagnosing hypertension. It specifically revealed that around 15% of people aged 40-75 might have a form of undiagnosed high blood pressure that occurs only at night-time. Since they are unaware of this, they are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease such as stroke, heart failure, and even death, suggests the new research from the University of Oxford published in the British Journal of General Practice.
According to the study’s co-author Dr Adam Mahdi, Departmental Research Lecturer, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, they developed the new techniques which led to significant insights on the importance of night-time blood pressure assessment in diagnosing hypertension and preventing cardiovascular disease.
The study divides individuals into three groups according to their blood pressure patterns ‘dipper’, for whom the night-time blood pressure is lower than the daytime blood pressure (which is the case for healthy young people), ‘ non-dippers’, for whom night-time and daytime blood pressure values are not very different, and ‘reverse dippers’, for whom, contrary to expectations, the night-time blood pressure is higher than the daytime blood pressure, when they are up and active.
The study found that the blood pressure for ‘reverse dippers’ is lowest during the daytime when they would have their blood pressure checked by their GP, so these people are at risk of having a missed diagnosis of hypertension. As a result, they are at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart failure, and even death. The dippers are more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension since their blood pressure decreases during the night and their blood pressure is highest during the day.
Source: indiaai.gov.in
