Lowering blood pressure targets cuts cardiovascular disease deaths

The target for systolic blood pressure recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is 140mmHg in patients aged under 80 years, but epidemiological studies have suggested a lower target may be preferable.

A major US study by The SPRINT Research group involving 9,361 hypertensive patients has found intensive treatment to a target of 120mmHg significantly improves cardiovascular outcomes compared with a target of 140mmHg.

The comparison was stopped 3.3 years into the planned 5 years of the trial after the data safety monitoring board found that intensively treated patients were 25% less likely to experience a cardiovascular event and 27% less likely to die from any cause. Participants in this arm of the trial were 43% less likely to die from a cardiovascular event.

The findings, published in The
New England Journal of Medicine
^[1]
(online, 9 November 2015), could have implications for quality and outcomes framework indicators in the UK, which currently reward GPs at a target of 150mmHg.