Objectives:
Prehypertension frequently progresses to hypertension and is associated with cardiovascular diseases, stroke, excess morbidity and mortality. However, the identical risk factors for developing hypertension from prehypertension are not clarified. This study is conducted to clarify the risks.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective 5-year cohort study using the data from 3,584 prehypertensive Japanese adults (52.1±11.0 years, 2,081 men) in 2004 and reevaluated it 5 years later. We calculated the cumulative incidences of hypertension over 5 years, then, we detected the risk factors and calculated odds ratios (ORs) for developing hypertension by crude analysis and after adjustments for age, sex, body mass index, smoking and drinking habits, baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and serum uric acid. We also evaluated whether serum uric acid (hyperuricemia) provided an independent risk for developing hypertension.
Results:
The cumulative incidence of hypertension from prehypertension over 5 years was 25.3%, but there were no significant differences between women and men (24.4% vs 26.0%, p=0.28). The cumulative incidence of hypertension in subjects with hyperuricemia (n=726) was significantly higher than those without hyperuricemia (n=2,858) (30.7% vs 24.0%, p<0.001). After multivariable adjustments, the risk factors for developing hypertension from prehypertension were age (OR per 1 year increased: 1.023; 95% CI, 1.015-1.032), women (OR versus men: 1.595; 95% CI, 1.269-2.005), higher body mass index (OR per 1 kg/m
2
increased: 1.051; 95% CI 1.021-1.081), higher baseline systolic blood pressure (OR per 1 mmHg increased: 1.072; 95% CI, 1.055-1.089) and diastolic blood pressure (OR per 1 mmHg increased: 1.085; 95% CI, 1.065-1.106), and higher serum uric acid (OR pre 1 mg/dL increased: 1.149; 95% CI, 1.066-1.238), but not smoking and drinking habits, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and chronic kidney diseases.
Conclusions:
Increased serum uric acid is an independent risk factor for developing hypertension from prehypertension. Intervention studies are needed to clarify whether the treatments for hyperuricemia in prehypertensive subjects are useful.
Uric acid is an independent risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis in a Japanese elderly population without metabolic syndrome