HypertensionCohort study
Cardiovascular risk across blood pressure categories defined by the 2024 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and 2023 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) hypertension guidelines: insights from a Korean nationwide cohort study
- Retrospective cohort study
- population-based
- nationwide
Authors' conclusion
Elevated BP and hypertension, as defined by the 2024 ESC guidelines, were associated with increased risk of future cardiovascular events.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged ≥40 years undergoing Korean national health examinations in 2009, without prior stroke or MI
- Participants
- 2,604,340 adults
- Exposure
- Elevated blood pressure (BP) and hypertension vs non-elevated BP
- Outcome
- Composite of:
- Stroke
- MI
- All-cause mortality
- Follow-up
- Mean 11.66 ± 2.25 years
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Composite outcome:
- Stroke
- MI
- All-cause mortality
Each group vs non-elevated BPAdjusted hazard ratio (95% CI)
Elevated BP
1.072(1.059–1.084)
Hypertension
1.201(1.186–1.217)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Stroke, MI and all-cause mortality (each)
- Significantly elevated in both elevated BP and hypertension groups
ESC vs 2023 ESH classification
- Differing BP thresholds resulted in variation in risk assessment across population subgroups
Original publication
Cardiovascular risk across blood pressure categories defined by the 2024 ESC and 2023 ESH hypertension guidelines: insights from a Korean nationwide cohort study. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 3 September 2025. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf573
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it