white coat hypertension
- noun
- /waɪt koʊt haɪpənˈtɛnʃən/
- Specialized
:
hipertensión de bata blanca
- If a person has white coat hypertension, their blood pressure may rise in a clinical environment, even if it is normal at home.
Examples
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White coat hypertension was previously described as falsely elevated blood pressures, typically occurring when blood pressures are measured in an office or clinic setting.
Academic text (2016) -
Patients who have white coat hypertension become anxious when in a clinical setting.
Academic text (2016) -
The prevalence of white coat hypertension is variable but significant.
Academic text (2016) -
White coat hypertension is just one of many concerns for blood pressure inaccuracy.
Academic text (2016) -
There is evidence to suggest that people diagnosed with white coat hypertension have a slightly higher cardiovascular risk than people classified as normotensive.
Academic text (2016) -
White coat hypertension is significant because it has resulted in a number of people being falsely diagnosed as having hypertension.
Academic text (2016) -
For reasons mentioned previously, elevated office/clinic blood pressures do not always equate with someone having persistently elevated blood pressures (e.g., white coat hypertension).
Academic text (2016) -
This is not something that affects only the occasional patient—it is estimated that around 15-30% of people experience white coat hypertension, and it can occur in both those on antihypertensive treatment and those who are not.
Academic text (2012) -
Many patients experience white coat hypertension due to anxiety when they visit a doctor.
-
Research shows that white coat hypertension affects a significant number of people during medical check-ups.
Synonyms
1
5.5
A temporary rise in blood pressure when a person is at the doctor's office
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
white + coat + hypertension
The term combines 'white coat' (commonly understood as medical staff or a clinical setting) with 'hypertension' (high blood pressure), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to elevated blood pressure occurring in clinical contexts. This is a literal modifier+noun composition rather than an idiomatic or highly metaphorical sense, making the meaning predictable from the parts.
Etymology
White coat hypertension comes from a simple image: when people see a doctor in a white coat they often feel nervous. That nervousness can raise their blood pressure at the doctor's office, so the term means 'blood pressure that is high only in the clinic'.