The Association of Blood Pressure Defined by the 2017 ACC/AHA Guidelines and Cardiovascular Disease Risk for Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: A Cohort Study

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a series of diseases affecting the heart or blood vessels. Objectives: To assess the relationship between blood pressure (BP) levels defined by the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guideline and CVD/atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk for middle-aged and elderly people in China. Methods: A total of 6,644 middle-aged and elderly people from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were finally included. According to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, all subjects were divided into four groups: normal BP, elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension. The outcome of this study was considered as the risk of CVD and ASCVD. Univariate and multivariate COX regression models were adopted to examine the relationship of the 2017 ACC/AHA BP classification with the risk of CVD. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between BP levels and ASCVD risk. Subgroup analyses based on age, gender, and use of antihypertensive drugs were performed. P<0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Results: After adjusting all covariates, compared to middle-aged and elderly patients with normal BP, we found that patients with stage 1/2 hypertension were associated with a higher risk of CVD, separately. Simultaneously, we also observed a positive association between individuals with elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, stage 2 hypertension, and higher ASCVD risk in the fully adjusted model. The result of subgroup analyses implied that the relationship between stage 1/2 hypertension and CVD/ high ASCVD was robust in different ages and genders, and participants without using antihypertensive drugs. Conclusion: BP classification under the 2017 ACC/AHA BP guidelines may apply to the Chinese population.