Potential Deaths Averted and Serious Adverse Events Incurred From Adoption of the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) Intensive Blood Pressure Regimen in the United States

Background: SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) demonstrated a 27% reduction in all-cause mortality with a systolic blood pressure (SBP) goal of <120 versus <140 mm Hg among US adults at high cardiovascular disease risk but without diabetes mellitus, stroke, or heart failure. To quantify the potential benefits and risks of SPRINT intensive goal implementation, we estimated the deaths prevented and excess serious adverse events incurred if the SPRINT intensive SBP treatment goal were implemented in all eligible US adults. Methods: SPRINT eligibility criteria were applied to the 1999 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and linked with the National Death Index through December 2011. SPRINT eligibility included age ≥50 years, SBP of 130 to 180 mm Hg (depending on the number of antihypertensive medications being taken), and high cardiovascular disease risk. Exclusion criteria were diabetes mellitus, history of stroke, >1 g proteinuria, heart failure, estimated glomerular filtration rate <20 mL·min−1 ·1.73 m−2 , or dialysis. Annual mortality rates were calculated by dividing the Kaplan-Meier 5-year mortality by 5. Hazard ratios for all-cause mortality and heart failure and absolute risks for serious adverse events in SPRINT were used to estimate the number of potential deaths and heart failure cases prevented and serious adverse events incurred with intensive SBP treatment.Results: The mean age was 68.6 years, and 83.2% and 7.4% were non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black, respectively. The annual mortality rate was 2.20% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91–2.48), and intensive SBP treatment was projected to prevent ≈107 500 deaths per year (95% CI, 93 300–121 200) and give rise to 56 100 (95% CI, 50 800–61 400) episodes of hypotension, 34 400 (95% CI, 31 200–37 600) episodes of syncope, 43 400 (95% CI, 39 400–47 500) serious electrolyte disorders, and 88 700 (95% CI, 80 400–97 000) cases of acute kidney injury per year. The analysis-of-extremes approach indicated that the range of estimated lower- and upper-bound number of deaths prevented per year with intensive SBP control was 34 600 to 179 600. Intensive SBP control was projected to prevent 46 100 (95% CI, 41 800–50 400) cases of heart failure annually. Conclusions: If fully implemented in eligible US adults, intensive SBP treatment could prevent ≈107 500 deaths per year. A consequence of this treatment strategy, however, could be an increase in serious adverse events.