Blood pressure components and incident cardiovascular disease and mortality events among Iranian adults with chronic kidney disease during over a decade long follow-up: a prospective cohort study

To explore the association between systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP respectively) and pulse pressure (PP) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality events among Iranian patients with prevalent CKD.

Patients [n = 1448, mean age: 60.9 (9.9) years] defined as those with estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 ml/min/1.73 m², were followed from 31 January 1999 to 20 March 2014. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were applied to examine the associations between different components of BP with outcomes.

During a median follow-up of 13.9 years, 305 all-cause mortality and 317 (100 fatal) CVD events (among those free from CVD, n = 1232) occurred. For CVD and CV-mortality, SBP and PP showed a linear relationship, while a U-shaped relationship for DBP was observed with all outcomes. Considering 120 ≤ SBP < 130 as reference, SBP ≥ 140 mmHg was associated with the highest hazard ratio (HR) for CVD [1.68 (1.2–2.34)], all-cause [1.72 (1.19–2.48)], and CV-mortality events [2.21 (1.16–4.22)]. Regarding DBP, compared with 80 ≤ DBP < 85 as reference, the level of ≥ 85 mmHg increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality events; furthermore, DBP < 80 mmHg was associated with significant HR for CVD events [1.55 (1.08–2.24)], all-cause [1.68 (1.13–2.5)] and CV-mortality events [3.0 (1.17–7.7)]. Considering PP, the highest HR was seen in participants in the 4th quartile for all outcomes of interest; HRs for CVD events [1.92 (1.33–2.78)], all-cause [1.71 (1.11–2.63)] and CV-mortality events [2.22 (1.06–4.64)].

Among patients with CKD, the lowest risk of all-cause and CV-mortality as well as incident CVD was observed in those with SBP < 140, 80 ≤ DBP < 85 and PP < 64 mmHg.