Abstract: Objective   To investigate the correlation of red cell distribution width (RDW) with blood pressure levels,  central arterial pressure and blood pressure variability in patients with essential hypertension (EH). Methods   A total of 531 EH patients in Henan Provincial People's Hospital were selected. With RDW quartile as the cutoff point, the patients were divided into four groups (group A1 n=138,  group A2 n=137,  group A3 n=132,  and group A4 n=124). The blood pressure levels,  central arterial pressure and blood pressure variability were compared among four groups. Results  24hour mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), daytime SBP, night SBP, and central arterial pressure of four groups showed significant difference among four groups(P<0.01). The allday coefficient of variation (CV),  daytime CV,  nighttime CV had significant difference among four groups (P<0.01),  and  group A4  was significantly higher than that of  other groups.  RDW was positively correlated with 24hour SBP,  daytime SBP,  nighttime SBP,  allday CV,  daytime CV,  nighttime CV and central arterial pressure.Conclusion  RDW was positively correlated with blood pressure,  blood pressure variability   and central artery pressure in patients with EH.

Key words: essential hypertension；red cell distribution width；blood , pressure level；central arterial pressure；blood pressure variability