Fig 1. Schematic presentation of the analyses with and without a lag period.

(A) Analyses without lag periods, in which blood pressure (BP) variability is measured over 2 visits with immediate follow-up for stroke incidence thereafter. Blood pressure variability is then updated when the participant visits the research center again. (B) Analyses with lag periods. After blood pressure variability measurement, a lag period of 3, 6, or 9 years is incorporated before follow-up for incident stroke to account for reversed causation.