Prospective Predictors of Blood Pressure Among African American Men Living with HIV

Little is known about the predictors of blood pressure (BP) among African American men living with HIV. We examined whether age and body mass index (BMI) are associated with higher blood pressure (BP) and whether being married and muscular endurance are associated with lower BP among African American men living with HIV. Second, we examined whether being married moderated the effects of the other predictors on BP. Finally, we examined whether BMI mediated the relationship between muscular endurance and BP. This article is a prospective secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial of a health-promotion intervention for African American men living with HIV. We measured the participants' BP pre-intervention and three, six, and 12 months post-intervention. Generalized estimating equations linear regression analyses examined whether marital status, age, BMI, and muscular endurance predicted BP post-intervention, adjusting for pre-intervention BP and the intervention. Older age, higher BMI, and lower muscular endurance predicted higher BP post-intervention, adjusting for the intervention and baseline BP. Although marital status did not predict post-intervention BP, it moderated the negative effect of higher BMI. The positive relation of BMI to BP was weaker among married men than unmarried men. Muscular endurance had an indirect impact on BP mediated through BMI. Public health efforts targeting older African American men with HIV should focus on increasing muscular endurance in this population to lower BMI as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in this population.