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QUESTION: In adults with no history of vascular disease, what is the age specific association between usual blood pressure and vascular mortality?
Data sources
Studies were identified through searches of Medline and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, hand searches of meeting extracts, and discussions with investigators.
Study selection
Prospective observational studies were included that reported data on blood pressure at baseline and cause and date of death. Studies that deliberately recruited patients with a history of stroke or heart disease were excluded.
Data extraction
Reviewers contacted investigators of selected studies to obtain individual patient data. People with a history of stroke or heart disease at baseline were excluded from the analysis. Individual data were used to estimate the main risk factor of interest: usual (ie, long term) blood pressure. Meta-analysis was used to relate mortality during each decade of death to the estimated usual blood pressure at the start of …
Footnotes
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Sources of funding: UK Medical Research Council; British Heart Foundation; EU Biomed Programme; CTSU.
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For correspondence: PSC Secretariat, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK. psc{at}ctsu.ox.ac.uk