Stage 1 hypertension defined by the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline predicts future cardiovascular events in elderly Chinese individuals

The 2017 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) hypertension guideline updated stage 1 hypertension defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 130‐139 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 80‐89 mm Hg. However, the impact of 1 hypertension that affects future cardiovascular risk remains unclear among older adults in rural China. The prospective cohort study included 7503 adults aged ≥60 years with complete data and no cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline. Follow‐up for the new adverse events was conducted from the end of the baseline survey to the end of the third follow‐up survey (2007.01‐2017.12). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for blood pressure (BP) classifications and adverse events with normal BP as reference (< 120/80 mm Hg). During the 57 290 person‐years follow‐up period, 2261 all‐cause mortality, 1271 CVD mortality, 1159 stroke, and 347 myocardial infarctions (MI) occurred. Patients with stage 1 hypertension versus normal BP had HRs (95% CI) of 1.068 (0.904‐1.261) for all‐cause mortality, 1.304 (1.015‐1.675) for CVD mortality, 1.449 (1.107‐1.899) for stroke, and 1.735 (1.051‐2.863) for MI, respectively. In conclusion, among adults aged ≥60 years, stage 1 hypertension revealed an increased hazard of CVD mortality, stroke, and MI, which is complementary evidence for the application of 2017 ACC/AHA hypertension guidelines in an older Chinese population. Therefore, BP control in patients with stage 1 hypertension may be beneficial to reduce the hazard of CVD in elderly Chinese individuals.