Introduction:

Hypertension and smoking are independent risk factors for the development of cardiovascular events. Tobacco use causes an acute elevation of blood pressure due to the action of the sympathetic system. However, the long-term effects are contradictory. Increased variability in blood pressure and the presence of nocturnal arterial hypertension are associated with adverse cardiovascular events regardless of blood pressure levels.

Objectives:

To evaluate the association between smoking and daytime and nighttime arterial hypertension and variability.

Material and Methods:

Analytical, observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study, which includes hypertensive patients over 18 years of age with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

Results:

391 patients were included, being 14.6% smokers. Higher levels of systolic and diastolic daytime blood pressure were found in smoking patients (p = 0.204, p = 0.087, respectively). A significant association was observed between nocturnal arterial hypertension and the presence of diabetes mellitus and increased body mass index. No association was found between tobacco consumption and the different patterns of variability, as well as with nocturnal arterial hypertension.

Conclusions:

The group of smoking patients showed a trend towards higher mean daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressure figures than non-smokers, which could suggest that smoking affects the control of blood pressure numbers.

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