White coat hypertension | |
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Other names | White coat syndrome |
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A white coat and scrubs |
White coat hypertension (WHT), also known as white coat syndrome, is a form of labile hypertension[1] in which people exhibit a blood pressure level above the normal range in a clinical setting, although they do not exhibit it in other settings.[2] It is believed that the phenomenon is due to anxiety experienced during a clinic visit.[3] The patient's daytime ambulatory blood pressure is used as a reference as it takes into account ordinary levels of daily stress.
Masked hypertension (MH) is the contrasting phenomenon, whereby a patient's blood pressure is above the normal range during daily living but not in a clinic setting.[4]