Table 2.
Rates of CVD events and all-cause mortality among 14,039 REGARDS study participants not taking antihypertensive medication by blood pressure category (top panel) and recommendation for pharmacological antihypertensive treatment initiation (bottom panel).
| CVD events | All-cause mortality | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Events / Person-years | Rate (95% CI) per 1,000 person-years | Events / Person-years | Rate (95% CI) per 1,000 person-years | |
| SBP/DBP, mmHg* | ||||
| <130 and <80 | 599 / 58,581 | 10.2 (9.4, 11.0) | 1,059 / 60,400 | 17.5 (16.5, 18.6) |
| 130–139 or 80–89 | 444 / 32,133 | 13.8 (12.5, 15.1) | 674 / 33,465 | 20.1 (18.6, 21.7) |
| ≥140 or ≥90 | 356 / 15,711 | 22.7 (20.3, 25.0) | 551 / 16,729 | 32.9 (30.2, 35.7) |
| Recommendation for antihypertensive medication initiation by the 2017 ACC/AHA blood pressure guideline (among participants with SBP between 130 and 139 mmHg or DBP between 80 and 89 mmHg)† | ||||
| Not recommended | 43 / 12,615 | 3.4 (2.4, 4.4) | 61 / 12,739 | 4.8 (3.6, 6.0) |
| Recommended | 401 / 19,518 | 20.5 (18.5, 22.6) | 613 / 20,726 | 29.6 (27.2, 31.9) |
ACC: American College of Cardiology; AHA: American Heart Association; CVD: cardiovascular disease; REGARDS: REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke.
Blood pressure categories are mutually exclusive. Participants whose SBP and DBP correspond to two separate categories were assigned to the higher blood pressure group.
Analyses of the recommendation for antihypertensive medication initiation were restricted to participants with SBP between 130 and 139 mmHg or DBP between 80 and 89 mmHg. Recommendations for antihypertensive medication initiation according to the 2017 ACC/AHA blood pressure guideline include SBP between 130 and 139 mmHg or DBP between 80 and 89 mmHg with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, a history of CVD or a 10-year predicted CVD risk ≥10%, or age ≥65 years with SBP ≥130 mmHg. All participants with SBP ≥140 mmHg or DBP ≥90 mmHg are recommended antihypertensive medication initiation by the 2017 ACC/AHA blood pressure guideline.
The median follow-up for CVD events was 8.3 years (maximum 11.9 years). The median follow-up for all-cause mortality was 8.5 years (maximum 11.9 years).