Risks associated with increasing categories of conventional blood pressure.

Number and HR indicate the number of end points (percentage rate) and HR (95% confidence interval), respectively. Systolic/diastolic thresholds for CBP were as follows: optimal, <120/<80 mm Hg; normal, 120–129/80–84 mm Hg; high-normal, 130–139/85–89 mm Hg; mild hypertension, 140–159/90–99 mm Hg; and severe hypertension, ≥160/≥100 mm Hg. When the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were in different categories, the participant was assigned to the higher category. HRs express the risk compared with optimal blood pressure (reference). HRs were adjusted for cohort as a random effect and for sex, age, body mass index, smoking, total cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, and history of cardiovascular disease as fixed effects. The p-value refers to linear trend across the blood pressure categories. Significance of the HRs: *p<0.01; †p<0.001; and ‡p<0.0001.