Gender Based Comparison of Mean Arterial Pressure and Pulse Pressure after Stress Induction in Healthy Adults

Abstract: Background: Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) and Pulse Pressure (PP) are both key parameters to diagnose and manage cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. Men and women are physically different from each other. Objective: Is to evaluate gender-based comparison of MAP and PP of healthy adults after stress induction. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was designed and conducted in the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IBMS) at Khyber Medical University (KMU) from January 2022 to April 2022. A total of fifty-two participants including twenty-six males and twenty-six females were selected using convenience sampling. Sample size estimation was carried out using G*Power. Healthy adults between the age of 18-40 years were included in the study. Blood Pressure (BP) and Heart Rate (HR) were checked both before and after the stress induction. MAP and PP were calculated using the formulas obtained from the literature i.e., MAP = DP + 1/3 (PP) and PP = SBP-DBP. Result: The mean age of males was 27.16 ± 4.28 years and that of females was 23.15 ± 2.86 years. Both pre and post stress comparison of mean difference between healthy adult males and females, revealed no significant difference between MAP (Post-Stress p=0.97 and Pre-Stress p=0.61), PP (Post-Stress p=0.18 and Pre-Stress p=0.05) and HR (Post-Stress p=0.11 and Pre-Stress p=0.57). Males had a higher PP than females in both pre and post stress phase. Females had a slightly higher MAP than males in the pre stress phase. In the post stress phase, MAP showed a positive correlation with HR and PP. While in the pre stress phase, all the variables (MAP, PP and HR) showed no correlation with each other. Conclusion: MAP and PP show no significant difference between healthy adult males and females, after stress induction.