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Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of masked hypertension in normotensivetype2 diabetic patients by means of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 230 normotensivepatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients underwent 24 hour ambulatoryblood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Patients with increased daytime bloodpressure levels (􀀂135/85mmHg) were classified as having maskedhypertension.Results: The prevalence of masked hypertension was 31.7% (n=73). Normotensiveand masked hypertensive subjects, based on ambulatory bloodpressure, were not different in terms of age and diabetes duration. The officesystolic blood pressure was higher in those with masked hypertension than in thenormotensive group(128.8±8.5 vs. 123.9±9.2mmHg, p= 0.003).Conclusion: Upto one third of normotensive type 2 diabetic patients have maskedhypertension according to ABPM. Therefore, ABPM is important to identify thishigh-risk group so as to be able to take interventional measures early on.