Early-onset hypertension tied to greater CVD, mortality risks

Hypertension appears to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, with the risk being higher with a younger age of onset, suggests a recent study.

The investigators identified 1,672 incident CVD cases and 2,008 deaths over a mean follow-up of 6.5 years. Outcome hazards gradually attenuated with the increase in hypertension onset age after multivariate adjustment.

The average hazard ratios (HRs) of CVD and all-cause mortality were as follows: 2.26 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.19–4.30) and 2.59 (95 percent CI, 1.32–5.07) for the hypertension onset age <45 years old group; 1.62 (95 percent CI, 1.24–2.12) and 2.12 (95 percent CI, 1.55–2.90) for the 45- to 54-year age group; 1.42 (95 percent CI, 1.12–1.79) and 1.30 (95 percent CI, 1.03–1.62) for the 55- to 64-year age group; and 1.33 (95 percent CI, 1.04–1.69) and 1.29 (95 percent CI, 1.11–1.51) for the ≥65-year age group, respectively (p_interaction=0.38 for CVD; p<0.01 for death).

This study included 71,245 participants free of hypertension and CVD in the first survey (July 2006 to October 2007) of the Kailuan study, a prospective cohort study in Tangshan, China. Participants were followed biennially until 31 December 2017. During follow-up, a total of 20,221 new-onset hypertension cases were identified. One control participant was randomly selected for each new-onset hypertensive individual, matching for age and sex. Overall, 19,887 case-control pairs were included.

Weighted Cox regression models were used to calculate the average HRs of incident CVD and all-cause mortality across the age groups.