Should the Prepublication SPRINT Results Affect Clinical Practice Right Now?

On September 14, 2015, one of my patients called the office and asked whether we should intensify her antihypertensive drug regimen. She is a 90-year-old, independently living woman who takes one antihypertensive drug; her typical blood pressure (BP) is around 150/75 mm Hg, but, in recent years, her systolic BPs have been as low as 130 mm Hg and as high as 170 mm Hg. What prompted the call? She had watched the evening news and had heard about the just-announced result of the NIH-sponsored Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). That week, many other patients called our practice with the same question or mentioned the trial during office visits. Thus, a quick review of SPRINT is appropriate.

In SPRINT, more than 9000 patients wit…