Routine Office Blood Pressure Readings and Mortality Associations

Current guidelines recommend blood pressure (BP) treatment targets of <130/80 mm Hg for most patients with hypertension, based on outcomes in randomized trials like SPRINT. However, achieving stringent control can be challenging in clinical practice.

To examine the association between systolic BP and mortality, researchers reviewed U.S. Veterans Affairs records of 2.4 million veterans with hypertension (mean age, 66; 22% with cardiovascular disease and 19% with chronic kidney disease). Using BP measurements from routine outpatient visits and adjusting for demographics and comorbidities, the authors examined annual all-cause mortality at various systolic BP levels, compared with systolic BP of ≥160 mm Hg.