The Association of Stage 1 Hypertension Defined by the 2017 ACCAHA Guideline with Stroke and Its Subtypes among Elderly Chinese

Abstract EN

Background.

The 2017 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association hypertension guideline updated stage 1 hypertension definition as systolic blood pressure range from 130 to 139 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure from 80 to 89 mmHg.

However, the association of stage 1 hypertension with stroke and its subtypes among the older population in rural China remains unclear.

Methods.

This population-based cohort study consisted of 7,503 adults aged ≥60 years with complete data and no cardiovascular disease at baseline from rural areas of Fuxin County, Liaoning province, China.

Follow-up for the new cases of stroke was conducted from the end of the baseline survey to the end of the third follow-up survey (January 1, 2007–December 31, 2017).

Adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals with the normal blood pressure as a reference, and calculated population attributable risk was based on prevalence and hazard ratios.

Results.

During a median follow-up of 12.5 years, we observed 1,159 first-ever incident stroke (774 ischemic, 360 hemorrhagic, and 25 uncategorized).

With the blood pressure <120/<80 mmHg as a reference, stage 1 hypertension showed the adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.45 (1.11–1.90) for all stroke, 1.65 (1.17–2.33) for ischemic stroke, and 1.17 (0.74–1.85) for hemorrhagic stroke, respectively.

In this study, the population attributable risk values of stage 1 hypertension were 10.22% (2.64%–18.56%) for all stroke and 14.34% (4.23%–25.41%) for ischemic stroke.

Conclusion.

Among adults aged ≥60 years in rural China, stage 1 hypertension defined by 2017 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association hypertension guideline was independently associated with the increased risk of all stroke and ischemic stroke, excluding hemorrhagic stroke.