Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
Background—Previous studies have shown that psychological well-being is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. However, whether well-being might be specifically associated with reduced risk of hypertension has not been rigorously investigated in prospective studies.
Objective—This study examined the prospective association between two measures of psychological well-being and incident hypertension.
Methods—Participants were 6,384 healthy British civil servants age 39 to 63 from the Whitehall II cohort. Psychological well-being (emotional vitality and optimism) and cardiovascular risk factors (demographic characteristics, health status, health behaviors, psychological ill-being) were assessed during the 1991-1994 baseline. Incident hypertension was defined by clinical measures of systolic or diastolic blood pressure >140/90 mmHg, self-reported physician-diagnosed hypertension, or treatment for hypertension. Follow-up assessments of hypertension took place approximately every three years through 2002-2004. Cox proportional hazards regression models estimated hazard ratios.
Results—There were 2,304 cases of incident hypertension during the follow-up period. High versus low emotional vitality was associated with a significantly reduced risk of hypertension in an age-adjusted model (hazard ratio = 0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.80-0.98). This association was maintained after controlling for demographic characteristics and health status, but was slightly attenuated after adjusting for health behaviors and ill-being. Optimism was not significantly associated with hypertension.
Conclusions—High emotional vitality was associated with reduced hypertension risk; favorable health behaviors explained only part of the relationship. Associations did not differ by age, were similar for men and women and were maintained after accounting for ill-being.
Recommended Citation
Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Boehm, J. K., Kivimaki, M., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2014). Taking the tension out of hypertension: A prospective study of psychological well-being and hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 32(6), 1222–1228. http://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000175
Copyright
Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins
Comments
This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in
Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Boehm, J. K., Kivimaki, M., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2014). Taking the tension out of hypertension: A prospective study of psychological well-being and hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 32(6), 1222–1228. http://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000175