Table 1.

Study Characteristics

Study	Location	Age at baseline (years) ^†	Women (%)	Median follow-up (years)	BP monitor	BP variability^‡	Anti-hypertensive medication (%)	MRI profile	Cerebral small vessel disease	Covariate Adjustments
Goldstein et al, 2005 (n=121)¹⁶	USA	66.2 ± 6.0 (55–79)	57	5	Ambulatory BP monitor	hour-to-hour (SD)	0^¶	1.5T MRI: T2	WMH: dichotomized by upper 25th percentile of WMH volume (in % of total intracranial volume).	Age
Yamaguchi et al, 2014 (n=210)¹⁹	Japan	70.9 ± 0.9 (70–72)	55	4	Ambulatory BP monitor	hour-to-hour (SD)	41^**	0.5T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted, FLAIR	CSVD progression over four years: any WMLs or lacunae on the second MRI that were not visible on the first MRI. WMH was assessed by the Fazekas scale; The presence (yes/no) of lacune was defined as the lesions with a 3- to 15-mm diameter.	Age, sex, BP, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, alcohol drinking
Liu et al, 2016 (n=232)²⁰	China	84.4 ± 2.5 (≥ 80)	75	2.3	Home BP monitor	day-to-day (CV)	22	3T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted, FLAIR	Change in WMH volume over 2.3 years (in % of intracranial volume)	Age, sex, BMI, BP, education, smoking, lipid, glucose, alcohol drinking and baseline WMH
Brickman et al. 2010 (n=686)^28‡	USA	80.0 ± 5.5 (≥ 65)	68	6	Dinamap Pro 100	visit-to-visit (SD)	66	1.5T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted FLAIR	WMH volume (in % of intracranial volume)	Age, sex, treatment status
Havlik et al, 2002 (n=575)²⁴	USA	61.6 ± 5.0 (45–64)^∥	0	30	Standard mercury sphygmomanometer	visit-to-visit (residual variability)	23	1.5T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted	WMH (visual rating scale based on Cardiovascular Health Study criteria)	Age, education, APOE genotype, stroke, and dementia
Leung et al. 2017 (n=878)²⁶	USA	67.5 ± 4.2 (≥ 65) ^∥	64	6	Standard mercury sphygmomanometer	visit-to-visit (SD of residuals derived from linear-regression)	27	1.5T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted	New WMH was assessed using visual rating scale according to the Cardiovascular Health Study protocol. The presence (yes/no) of incident lacune was defined as lesions with 3mm or larger in diameter in any direction with specific characteristics.	Age, sex, race, clinic site, smoking, BMI, diabetes, MRI scan interval, antihypertensive medication use
McNeil et al. 2018 (n=227)²⁹	Scotland	64.5 ± 0.8 (64)	52	4	Automatic electronic BP monitor	visit-to-visit (CV)	45	1.5T MRI: T2, FLAIR	WMH (Schelten’s scale)³⁷	Age, sex, systolic and diastolic BP
Rosano et al. 2014 (n=311)^27§	USA	82.9 ± 2.8 (70–79)	58	10	Standard mercury sphygmomanometer	visit-to-visit (CV)	62	3T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted, FLAIR	WMH volume (in % of intracranial volume)	None
Sabayan et al. 2013 (n=553)¹⁰	Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands	74.9 ± 3.2 (>70)	44	3.2	Automatic electronic sphygmomanometer	visit-to-visit (SD)	NR	1.5T MRI: T2-weighted, FLAIR	WMH volume, presence (yes/no) of lacunes, and presence (yes/no) of microbleeds as separate outcomes.	Age, sex, BMI, statin use, smoking, cholesterol, vascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, BP
Tully et al. 2018 (n=1,275)^22§	France	72 (≥65)	64	10	Automatic electronic sphygmomanometer	visit-to-visit (CV)	46	1.5T MRI: T1-weighted, T2-weighted	WMH volume (normalized by white matter volume)	N/A

BMI=body mass index, WMH=white matter hyperintensities. MRI= Magnetic resonance imaging.

^†

Mean ± standard deviation (range if available).

^‡

SD=standard deviation, CV=coefficient of variation. Residual variability represented the variance of residual from linear regression of SBP on age.

^§

Different analytical approaches.

^∥

Estimated age at baseline.

^¶

Participants were free from hypertension at baseline.

^**

The proportion of antihypertensive medication use by classes: calcium channel blocker:26.7%; angiotensin receptor blocker:13.3%; angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor:6.7%; Diuretcs:5.2%; α-Blocker:2.4%; β-Blocker:5.7%; αβ-Blocker:1.9%; Others:3.7%.

NR=not reported.