DIFFERENTIAL-EFFECTS OF DOXAZOSIN ON CLINIC AND AMBULATORY PRESSURE ACCORDING TO AGE, GENDER, AND PRESENCE OF WHITE COAT HYPERTENSION - RESULTS OF THE HALT STUDY

In this study the effects of a single daily dose of doxazosin (an alpha-adrenergic blocker) given at night were evaluated in 112 patients with mild hypertension. Patients were studied first on no medication, and a second time after being treated for up to 16 weeks with doxazosin. Blood pressure (BP) was measured by noninvasive ambulatory monitoring at the beginning and end of the study. Before treatment, the white coat effect (clinic-ambulatory BP) was greater in women than in men (significant for systolic pressure but not diastolic), and greater in elderly (aged over 65 years) than in younger patients (significant for both systolic and diastolic pressure). Clinic and ambulatory BP were reduced to a similar extent in men and women by doxazosin, but in the elderly the fall in clinic BP was associated with a much smaller fall of ambulatory BP. In patients with white coat hypertension (elevated clinic but normal ambulatory BP) doxazosin lowered clinic but not ambulatory BP, while in those with sustained hypertension it lowered both.