The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular risk of patients with white-coat hypertension according to different cut-off thresholds of self-measurement of blood pressure, as well as the impact of target organ injury at the beginning of the study, in comparison with normotensive patients.
We observed that patients with high blood pressure had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death from all causes than normal patients for all analyzed cut-offs. The risk in patients with white-coat hypertension and target organ injury was significantly higher than in normotensive patients and lower than in those with sustained high blood pressure.
Another major finding was that the blood pressure figures for self-measurement of blood pressure (SMBP) that should be considered “normal” are lower than those currently accepted in the clinical practice guidelines (<135/85 mmHg). Our results show that the normality “cut‑off point” is a SMBP reading <130/80 mmHg.