Thresholds for Conventional and Home Blood Pressure by Sex and Age in 5018 Participants From 5 Populations

Abstract

Whether blood pressure thresholds for hypertension should differ according to sex or age remains debated. We did a subject-level meta-analysis of 5018 people untreated for hypertension and randomly recruited from 5 populations (women, 56.7%; ≥60 years, 42.3%). We used multivariable-adjusted Cox regression and a bootstrap procedure to determine home blood pressure (HBP) levels yielding 10-year cardiovascular risks similar to those associated with established systolic/diastolic thresholds (140–160/80–100 mm Hg) for the conventional blood pressure (CBP). Conversely, we estimated CBP thresholds providing 10-year cardiovascular risks similar to those associated established HBP levels (125–135/80–85 mm Hg). All analyses were stratified for sex and age (P ≥0.24), ranging from −4.6 to 3.6 mm Hg systolic and from −4.3 to 2.1 mm Hg diastolic. The age differences between HBP thresholds derived from CBP and between CBP thresholds derived from HBP ranged from −6.7 to 8.4 mm Hg systolic and from −1.9 to 1.7 mm Hg diastolic and were nonsignificant ( P ≥0.08), except for HBP thresholds derived from CBP levels of 140 mm Hg systolic and 80 mm Hg diastolic ( P ≤0.04). Sensitivity analyses based on cardiac or cerebrovascular complications were confirmatory. In conclusion, our findings based on outcome-driven criteria support contemporary guidelines that propose single blood pressure thresholds that can be indiscriminately applied in both sexes and across the age range.