The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific (Mar 2022)

Hypertension Defined by 2017 ACC/AHA Guideline, Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics, and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study

  • Shujing Wu,
  • Yu Xu,
  • Ruizhi Zheng,
  • Jieli Lu,
  • Mian Li,
  • Li Chen,
  • Yanan Huo,
  • Min Xu,
  • Tiange Wang,
  • Zhiyun Zhao,
  • Shuangyuan Wang,
  • Hong Lin,
  • Meng Dai,
  • Di Zhang,
  • Jingya Niu,
  • Guijun Qin,
  • Li Yan,
  • Qin Wan,
  • Lulu Chen,
  • Lixin Shi,
  • Ruying Hu,
  • Xulei Tang,
  • Qing Su,
  • Xuefeng Yu,
  • Yingfen Qin,
  • Gang Chen,
  • Zhengnan Gao,
  • Guixia Wang,
  • Feixia Shen,
  • Zuojie Luo,
  • Yuhong Chen,
  • Yinfei Zhang,
  • Chao Liu,
  • Youmin Wang,
  • Shengli Wu,
  • Tao Yang,
  • Qiang Li,
  • Yiming Mu,
  • Jiajun Zhao,
  • Yufang Bi,
  • Weiqing Wang,
  • Guang Ning

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20
p. 100350

Abstract

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Summary: Background: The updated definition of hypertension by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) is an important paradigm shift and has lead to extensive discussion. We aimed to examine the association between the updated blood pressure (BP) categories and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) with potential modifications from other cardiovascular health metrics (CVHMs). Methods: This prospective study included 91,204 participants ≥40 years recruited from 20 community sites across mainland China. Participants were followed up during 2010-2016 for CVD events including nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death. BP categories were defined according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and CVHMs included smoking, physical activity, diet, body-mass index, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose. Findings: Overall, 1,985 major CVD events occurred during a mean follow-up of 3.7 years. Having more ideal CVHMs significantly reduced the risk of CVD events in both stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension. Compared with participants without hypertension, participants having ≥4 ideal CVHMs were no longer associated with an increased CVD risk in stage 1 hypertension (HR=1·04; 95% CI=0·83-1·31), but less so in stage 2 hypertension (HR=1·90, 95% CI=1·70-2·13). Such pattern of association was more evident in participants aged <60 years (P for interaction <0·05). Interpretation: Stage 1 hypertension defined by the ACC/AHA identifies individuals at increased CVD risk, which can be attenuated by achieving more preferable cardiovascular health, especially in adults aged <60 years.

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