Association of systolic blood pressure as categorical variable with the risk of all-cause mortality. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of the association between different ranges of systolic blood pressure and the risk of all-cause mortality (reference: 140 mmHg), adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical exercise, duration of treated hypertension, glomerular filtration rate, albuminuria, previous myocardial infarction, previous stroke, diabetes mellitus, and number of classes of antihypertensive drugs.
Lower Blood Pressure May Not Benefit Certain Patients, Study Suggests
Among patients ≥70 years of age treated with antihypertensive drugs, those treated to achieve a blood pressure target <140/90 mm Hg had a 26% higher risk of death over those treated less aggressively (60.3 vs. 48.5 per 1000/year). Elevated risks were observed in patients ≥80 years of age (102.2 vs. 77.5 per 1000/year, a 40% higher risk) and with previous cardiovascular events (98.3 vs. 63.6 per 1000/year, a 61% higher risk) but not in patients 70–79 years of age or without previous cardiovascular events. Among 1628 patients in the European Heart Journal study, 636 were treated to achieve a blood pressure target of <140/90 mm Hg. During 8853 person-years of follow-up, 469 patients died.
