Approved research

The influence of adiposity, ethnicity and anti-hypertensive medication on blood pressure, blood pressure control and cardiovascular events

Lay summary

This research project aims to identify whether the association between adiposity and blood pressure differs depending on the adiposity measurement used. For example, whether an increase in BMI is more highly associated with a high blood pressure, compared to hip circumference. The measurements of adiposity will include: BMI, waist to waist ratio, MRI, body surface area and body composition profile. We will also look at this association within subgroups of type of anti-hypertensive medication and ethnic groups. Secondly we aim to identify any differences between average blood pressures in different ethnic groups and whether there is any difference between groups in the amount of people with normal blood pressure. This will lead to future research aimed at targeting groups who have higher proportions of high blood pressure. We will consider the associations within subgroups of type of anti-hypertensive medication and class of BMI. We will also consider whether blood pressure control (having normal blood pressure) differs depending on which anti-hypertensive medication an individual takes and whether this varies by BMI category or ethnicity. We will investigate risk of cardiovascular disease between those at low moderate and high moderate risk (based on their blood pressure), class of anti-hypertensive medication taken, ethnic group and BMI. We will also assess whether the duration of time taking anti-hypertensive medication affects this risk.