The 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) high blood pressure (BP) guideline lowered the cut-off for hypertension, but its age-specific association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains inconclusive in different populations. We evaluated the association between high BP according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline and CVD risks in Koreans aged 20-94 years. In a nationwide health screening cohort, we included 15,508,537 persons aged 20-94 years without prior CVD. BP was categorized into normal, elevated, stage 1 hypertension, or stage 2 hypertension. The primary outcome was a composite CVD hospitalization (myocardial infarction, stroke, and/or heart failure). Over 10 years of follow-up, CVD incidence rates per 100,000 person-years were 105.4, 168.3, 215.9, and 641.2 for normal, elevated BP, stage 1, and stage 2 hypertension, respectively. The age-specific hazard ratios of stage 1 hypertension compared to normal BP were 1.41 (1.34-1.48) at ages 20-34, 1.54 (1.51-1.57) at ages 35-49, 1.38 (1.35-1.40) at ages 50-64, 1.21 (1.19-1.24) at ages 65-79, and 1.11 (1.03-1.19) at ages 80-94 years. With the lowered BP cut-off, 130/80 mmHg, population attributable fraction for CVD was 32.2%. In conclusion, stage 1 hypertension was significantly associated with a higher CVD risk across entire adulthood. The new definition of hypertension may have a substantial population impact on primary CVD prevention.
Keywords: age-specific risk; guideline; hypertension; population attributable risk; real world data.