Clinicians are considering whether more intensive treatment should be used to reduce systolic blood pressure to below 120mmHg, following a study by the SPRINT Research Group.¹⁰

The US-based study tested the hypothesis that a systolic blood-pressure goal below 120mmHg would reduce clinical events more than a standard goal of 140mmHg. It involved 9,361 people aged 50 or older who had a systolic blood pressure of 130-180mmHg and an increased risk of cardiovascular events (but who did not have diabetes).

Standard drug treatment was instigated to reduce blood pressure to below 140mmHg in one group, while the target systolic blood pressure for the intensive treatment group was below 120mmHg.¹⁰ 

The study was terminated early due to the positive outcomes, meaning the median follow-up period was 3.26 years (rather than the planned average of five years). The researchers found that “targeting a systolic blood pressure of less than 120mmHg, as compared with less than 140mmHg, resulted in lower rates of fatal and non-fatal major cardiovascular events and death from any cause.”

All-cause mortality was reduced by a third in the intensive treatment group compared to standard treatment. However, the researchers also observed “significantly higher rates of some adverse events” in the intensive-treatment group.