Mortality and Morbidity in Relation to Systolic Blood Pressure in Two Populations with Different Management of Hypertension: The Study of Men Born in 1913 and the Multifactorial Primary Prevention Trial

Total mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity during 10 years of follow-up in relation to systolic blood pressure (SBP) at entry were compared between a random sample of 7455 men, aged 47-54 years at entry, in whom multifactorial risk-factor intervention including intense efforts to detect and treat hypertension had been performed [the Primary Prevention Trial (PPT)], and a similar population (from an observational study) in which intervention on CVD risk factors was kept to a minimum (the Study of Men Born in 1913). Total mortality, CVD mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke incidence increased with SBP in both populations, but levelled off above the cut-off point for antihypertensive treatment in the population subjected to multifactorial CVD risk factor intervention. In this population total mortality was reduced by 30%, CVD mortality by 37%, CHD morbidity by 13% and stroke morbidity by 30% above the cut-off point for blood pressure intervention compared with the incidence predicted from the observational study. These findings indicate that multifactorial intervention, and especially antihypertensive treatment, have preventive effects in the hypertensive part of the middle-aged male population.