Potential Long-Term Benefit of Home Systolic Blood Pressure Below 125 mm Hg for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: The J-HOP Study Extended

BACKGROUND: The long-term benefit of achieving the Japanese Society of Hypertension home systolic blood pressure (SBP) target of <125 mm Hg has not been fully evaluated. This study investigated the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease events in individuals with home SBP <125 versus 125 to <135 or >= 135 mm Hg who participated in the J-HOP study (Japan Morning Surge-Home Blood Pressure).METHODS: The J-HOP study enrolled outpatients with >= 1 cardiovascular risk factor between 2005 and 2012, with follow-up until March 2015 and extended follow-up from December 2017 to May 2018. Cardiovascular disease events (stroke, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and aortic dissection) were compared between home SBP subgroups.RESULTS: During mean 5.9 years of follow-up in 4231 participants (mean age, 65 years), cardiovascular events included stroke (n=89), coronary artery disease (n=116), congestive heart failure (n=37), and aortic dissection (n=8). The adjusted 10-year risk of total cardiovascular disease was slightly higher, and stroke risk was significantly higher when baseline home SBP was >= 135 versus <125 mm Hg (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.39 [95% CI, 0.97-2.00] for overall cardiovascular disease and 2.68 [95% CI, 1.34-5.38] for stroke; this was largely due to between-group differences in the first 5 years of follow-up, which were maintained over the subsequent 5 years). Findings were similar in the subgroup of high-risk patients (those with diabetes or stroke history).CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight the potential long-term benefit of strict home SBP control and validate this as an appropriate Japanese Society of Hypertension guideline target although confirmation in larger populations is needed.