TOPLINE

Older adults who developed hypertension experienced faster progression of frailty both before and after their diagnosis than those who did not develop hypertension.

METHODOLOGY

• Researchers pooled data from three aging cohorts spanning 14 countries to assess changes in the progression of frailty before and after a diagnosis of hypertension.
• They included 21,418 participants (mean age at baseline, 63.2 years; 55.5% women). All were free of hypertension at baseline, with data collected between 2002 and 2022.
• Hypertension was identified by asking participants whether a doctor diagnosed them with the condition. The use of antihypertensive medications was recorded separately among those diagnosed.
• Frailty was assessed using a 27-item deficit index, rescaled from 0 (no deficits) to 100 (maximum deficits).
• Participants who developed hypertension were matched with those who did not develop the condition. All participants underwent repeated assessments during follow-up lasting up to 18 years.

TAKEAWAY

• Half of the matched participants developed hypertension during follow-up.
• In the 8 years before diagnosis, participants who later developed hypertension had a 2.69‑point greater increase in the frailty index than those who did not develop the condition.
• In the 8 years after diagnosis, participants who developed hypertension had a 1.51-point greater increase in the frailty index than those who did not.
• The use of antihypertensive medications was associated with a nonsignificant slowing of progression of frailty after diagnosis.

IN PRACTICE

"[The] findings sug­gest the importance of incorporating assessment of frailty into the comprehensive risk evaluation at the time of hypertension diagnosis, as well as into subsequent follow-up care, alongside opportunistic BP [blood pressure] screening in frail individuals," the researchers wrote.

SOURCE

The study was led by Dongfeng Tang of King's College London, London, England. It was published online on September 30 in Hypertension.

LIMITATIONS

Survival and selection may have produced a younger and healthier study sample. Hypertension was identified from reports of participants rather than measurements of blood pressure or medical records. Participants who were frail may have contacted healthcare more often and may have been diagnosed earlier.

DISCLOSURES

The study received support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province. The authors did not report any conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.