The relationship of the baseline ECG to blood pressure change

D. Sparrow, H. E. Thomas Jr, B. Rosner and S. T. Weiss

A total of 1,090 male participants (aged 23 to 80 years) of the Normative Aging Study who had baseline BP less than 140/90 mm Hg were observed prospectively for ten years. Blood pressures were taken at five- and ten-year follow-up examinations. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that baseline levels of systolic pressure, age, R-wave amplitude (aVL), hematocrit, T-wave amplitude (V5), and S-wave amplitude (V4, V5, and V6) were statistically significant predictors of systolic pressure change. Baseline levels of diastolic pressure, R-wave amplitude (aVL), and hematocrit were statistically significant predictors of diastolic pressure change. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that baseline levels of BP, S-wave amplitude (V1, V2, and V3), body mass index, R-wave amplitude (V4, V5, and V6), and T-wave amplitude (V5) were statistically significant predictors of subsequent hypertension. Whether the identified ECG amplitudes are an indicator of early increases in peripheral resistance or a function of neurohumoral factors, or both, is unknown.