Association of hypertension according to new ACC/AHA blood pressure guidelines with incident dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort Open Access

Abstract

Background

Associations between midlife hypertension and the development of dementia have been established. However, the impact of the new 2017 ACC/AHA hypertension guidelines on dementia risk at the population level has not been evaluated.

Objectives

To assess the association of hypertension categories with the risk of incident dementia and to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF) for dementia from hypertension categories defined by ACC/AHA guidelines, compared to the associations with hypertension defined by JNC7.

Methods

We studied dementia-free participants recruited to the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort in 1987-89. Hypertension was defined by 2003 JNC7 and 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines using blood pressure (BP) measured at baseline. Dementia was defined using adjudicated consensus diagnoses at visit 5 (2011-13), informant telephone interviews, and ICD-9 codes from hospitalizations and death certificates through 2013. Cox proportional hazards regression models estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by hypertension categories, adjusting for potential confounders. PAF of dementia by hypertension category was calculated using rate ratios from Poisson regression and the prevalence of the risk factor in the population.

Results

Among 13,971 participants followed for a median of 23.0 years, 1381 cases of dementia were identified. HRs (95%CI) compared to normal BP according to ACC/AHA categories were 1.35 (1.12, 1.61) for elevated BP, 1.28 (1.07, 1.52) for hypertension stage 1 and 1.36 (1.18, 1.57) for hypertension stage 2. PAF (95%CI) of dementia from BP categories were 3% (1%, 5%), 3% (1%, 5%) and 9% (4%, 14%), respectively. PAF using JNC7 categories were similar to ACC/AHA: 6% (3%, 9%) for prehypertension, 0% (-2%, 2%) for hypertension stage 1, and 9% (5%, 13%) for hypertension stage 2.

Conclusions

Risk of dementia was increased across categories defined by ACC/AHA guidelines. However, the population impact on dementia incidence using ACC/AHA was similar to the impact of JNC7. This suggests that new criteria for hypertension will not increase the number of persons in whom hypertension could be labeled as a risk for dementia.

Table of Contents

Background/Objectives. 1

Methods. 3

Results. 6

Discussion. 10

Conclusions. 12

References. 14

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Epidemiology
Subfield / Discipline	Epidemiology - MPH & MSPH
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Mental Health Health Sciences, Aging Health Sciences, Epidemiology
Keyword	Dementia Blood Pressure Cognitive Decline Hypertension
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Alvaro Alonso, MD, PhD, MPH, Emory University

Last modified

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	Association of hypertension according to new ACC/AHA blood pressure guidelines with incident dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort ()	2019-04-23 13:07:25 -0400	Press to Select an action Download

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions