• Shuyuan Zhang, Yixuan Zhong, Shouling Wu, Hailei Wu, Jun Cai, Weili Zhang, and STEP Study Group.
• National Clinical Research Center of Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100037, China.
• Chin. Med. J. 2024 May 5; 137 (9): 107810871078-1087.

BackgroundArterial stiffening increases with age and blood pressure and is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the relationship between blood pressure lowering and arterial stiffening is still uncertain, especially in older people. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of intensive blood pressure treatment on the progression of arterial stiffness and risk of CVD in older patients with hypertension.MethodsThe Strategy of Blood Pressure Intervention in the Elderly Hypertensive Patients (STEP) trial was a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial performed at 42 clinical centers throughout China, and 8511 patients aged 60-80 years with essential hypertension were enrolled and randomly assigned to systolic blood pressure (SBP) target of 110 mmHg to <130 mmHg (intensive treatment) or 130 mmHg to <150 mmHg (standard treatment). Patients underwent repeated examinations of the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and ankle-brachial index (ABI) at baseline, and the arterial stiffness was evaluated at the 3-year follow-up. A total of 5339 patients who had twice repeated measurements were included in this study. Changes in arterial stiffness between the intensive and standard treatment groups were analyzed using a multivariate linear regression model. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to evaluate the effect of intensive treatment on primary CVD outcomes.ResultsThe changes in baPWV were 61.5 cm/s (95% confidence interval [CI]: 49.8-73.2 cm/s) in the intensive treatment group and 98.4 cm/s (95% CI: 86.7-110.1 cm/s) in the standard treatment group ( P <0.001). Intensive treatment significantly delayed the progression of arterial stiffness, with an annual change of 23.1 cm·s -1 ·year -1vs. 36.7 cm·s -1 ·year -1 of baPWV in the intensive and standard treatment groups, respectively. During a median follow-up period of 3.36 years, primary CVD outcomes occurred in 77 (2.9%) patients in the intensive treatment group compared with 93 (3.5%) in the standard treatment group. Intensive treatment resulted in a significantly lower CVD risk in patients aged 70-80 years or with SBP <140 mmHg.ConclusionIntensive blood pressure control with an SBP target of 110 mmHg to <130 mmHg could delay the progression of arterial stiffness and reduce the risk of CVD in older patients with hypertension.Clinical Trial Registrationhttp://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; No. NCT03015311.Copyright © 2024 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.

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