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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Assessment of Vascular Function in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
Published on: June 16, 2014
Systolic blood pressure and mortality among older community-dwelling adults with CKD
Jessica W Weiss1, Eric S Johnson, Amanda Petrik
1Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, USA. weinstje@ohsu.edu
Insights
Lower baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) may predict poorer outcomes in older adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Higher SBP may increase cardiovascular hospitalization risk but not mortality.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Geriatrics
- Cardiology
Background:
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is prevalent in older adults.
- CKD outcomes differ in older versus younger patients.
- Current guidelines recommend a blood pressure target <130/80 mm Hg for all CKD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and outcomes in older adults with CKD.
- To determine if SBP <130 mm Hg or >160 mm Hg affects mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalizations.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥ 75 years with CKD.
- Analysis of baseline SBP categorized as <130 mm Hg, 130-160 mm Hg (reference), and >160 mm Hg.
- Follow-up for 5 years to assess mortality and CVD hospitalizations.
Main Results:
- Participants with SBP <130 mm Hg had a 22% higher risk of mortality (adjusted HR, 1.22) and a 10% higher risk of CVD hospitalization (adjusted HR, 1.10).
- Participants with SBP >160 mm Hg had a 26% higher risk of CVD hospitalization (adjusted HR, 1.26) but no significantly increased risk of mortality (adjusted HR, 1.06).
- A total of 46.4% died and 35.8% were hospitalized during the follow-up period.
Conclusions:
- Lower baseline SBP (≤130 mm Hg) may be associated with poorer outcomes, including mortality and CVD hospitalizations, in older adults with CKD.
- Higher baseline SBP (>160 mm Hg) may increase CVD hospitalization risk but not mortality.
- Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings and guide clinical practice.
Background:
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an increasingly common condition, especially in older adults. CKD manifests differently in older versus younger patients, with a risk of death that far outweighs the risk of CKD progressing to the point that dialysis is required. Current CKD guidelines recommend a blood pressure target <130/80 mm Hg for all patients with CKD; however, it is unknown how lower versus higher baseline blood pressures may affect older adults with CKD.
Study Design:
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting & Participants:
Older patients (aged ≥ 75 years) with CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) in a community-based health maintenance organization.
Predictor:
Baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 130, 130-160 (reference group), and > 160 mm Hg.
Outcomes:
Participants were followed up for 5 years to examine rates of mortality (primary outcome) and cardiovascular disease hospitalizations (secondary outcome).
Results:
At baseline, 3,099 participants (38.5%) had SBP < 130 mm Hg, 3,772 (46.9%) had SBP of 131-160 mm Hg, and 1,171 (14.6%) had SBP >160 mm Hg. A total of 3,734 (46.4%) died and 2,881 (35.8%) were hospitalized. Adjusted HRs for mortality in the groups with SBP < 130 and > 160 mm Hg were 1.22 (95% CI, 1.11-1.34) and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.93-1.22), respectively. Adjusted HRs for cardiovascular hospitalization in these groups were 1.10 (95% CI, 0.99-1.23) and 1.26 (95% CI, 1.09-1.45), respectively.
Limitations:
Although causality should not be inferred from this retrospective analysis, results from this study can generate hypotheses for future randomized controlled trials to investigate the relationship between blood pressure and outcomes in older patients with CKD.
Conclusions:
Our study suggests that lower baseline SBP (≤ 130 mm Hg) may predict poorer outcomes in terms of both mortality and cardiovascular hospitalizations in older adults with CKD. Conversely, higher baseline SBP (> 160 mm Hg) may predict increased risk of cardiovascular hospitalizations, but does not predict mortality. Clinical trials are required to test this hypothesis.
Related Concept Videos
Hypertension III: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
Chronic Kidney Disease I: Introduction
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Excretion
Special considerations while measuring blood pressure
Monitoring Both Arms:
Monitoring BP in both arms during the initial assessment is advisable, as the systolic value may differ by five to ten mm Hg between arms. For subsequent BP assessments, use the arm with the higher reading.
Hypertension I: Introduction
Chronic Kidney Disease II: Clinical Manifestations