Background
Our blood pressure changes (BP) every time our heart beats, over 90,00 times per day. It is therefore an anomaly in data-driven modern medicine that single blood pressure readings are still regularly used in clinical practice and research studies.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) yields multiple BP measurements over a 24-hr period, improving diagnostic accuracy and risk stratification.
As we get older, the mechanisms that usually tightly control BP may become less efficient, leading to BP instability. BP Instability has been linked to falls and syncope in older people but little work to date has specifically examined the relationship between markers of BP Instability on ABPM and falls.
Aim
The aim of this study is to examine the association between APBM markers of BP Instability and falls amongst older people attending a falls unit.
Objectives
1. Establish mean BP variability and morning surge and prevalence of absent/reversed dipping in a cohort of older people attending a falls unit.
2. Examine the relationship between these markers of BP Instability and further incident falls at clinic follow-up.
Hypothesis
Markers of BP Instability on ABPM will be prevalent amongst older people attending a falls service, and likely predict further falls.
Study Design / Methodology
This is a retrospective observational study based in the Falls and Syncope Unit (FASU), St James’s Hospital. The ABPMs of 200 people aged 70+ years attending FASU will be examined for markers of BP instability, and combined with further data extracted from the patient’s electronic medical records.
Key Outputs
To our knowledge this will be the first study to examine the association between ABPM markers of BP instability and falls in a cohort of community-dwelling older people. Findings will be submitted for publication to an academic journal, and submitted for presentation at the Irish Gerontological Society Annual Meeting.
