Impact Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Ambulatory Blood Pressure Profiles In Adolescence

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include exposure to abuse (verbal and physical), neglect, and household dysfunction during childhood. ACEs have long-lasting health impacts including increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hypertension in adulthood. However, it is not clear how ACE exposure impacts CVD risk earlier in the life course, particularly in adolescence. To address this gap in knowledge, in this study we hypothesized that ACE exposure is associated with abnormal ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) profiles in adolescents, with an increased incidence of ambulatory hypertension phenotypes that have normal casual clinic BP [e.g., masked hypertension (MH) or blunted nocturnal dipping (BND)]. We utilized 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM; Spacelabs) and casual clinic BP to construct a profile of adolescents with and without ACEs. Abnormal ABP profiles included the following categories: ambulatory hypertension (AH, elevated ABP and casual clinic BP ≥95 th percentile for age, sex, and height), white-coat hypertension (WCH, elevated casual clinic BP with normal ABP), MH (normal casual clinic BP with elevated ABP), or BND (drop in ABP < 10% during sleep). This study included 78 male and female adolescents (median age=16) recruited from Children’s of Alabama Pediatric Clinics. Exclusion criteria included known CVD and antihypertensive medication. Participants recorded wake and sleep times in a diary. Based on the ACE questionnaire, 51 (65%) of adolescents experienced at least 1 ACE. The prevalence of abnormal ABP profiles was similar between the group with ACE exposures vs. the group without ACE exposures (34% vs. 36%; P =0.87). In participants with ACE exposure (n=51), 9% had AH, 6% had MH, 19% had WCH, 43.1% had systolic BND and 22% had diastolic BND. In participants without ACEs (n=27), 4% had AH, 4% had MH, 29% had WCH, 37% had systolic BND and 15% had diastolic BND. Further analysis with covariates are necessary. These results suggest that adolescents with ACEs have similar prevalence of abnormal ABP overall, but higher prevalence of individual ABP phenotypes such as AH, MH, and BND compared to adolescents without ACEs.