Interest of Combined Blood Pressure Measurements in Very Old Frail Subjects: The PARTAGE Study

BACKGROUND Several clinical studies have shown that blood pressure (BP) measurements in very old frail individuals are of limited interest due to the fact that several age-related alterations and geriatric syndromes may modify BP. We studied in persons over 80-year old living in nursing homes the combined effects of 3 BP patterns on total mortality and major cardiovascular (CV) events: (i) low pulse pressure amplification (L-PPA) between carotid and brachial artery, (ii) systolic BP (SBP) < 130 mm Hg (L-SBP), under > 1 antihypertensive drugs, and (iii) changes in SBP between supine and upright position of > 20 mm Hg in both directions (hypotension/hypertension, orthostatic SBP [O-SBP]). METHODS This analysis was performed in subjects of the PARTAGE study presenting all these 3 measurements (n = 883). The combined effects of L-PPA, L-SBP, and O-SBP were studied during the 2 years followed-up period. RESULTS After adjusting for age, sex, and history of CV events, all 3 BP patterns were independent determinants of major CV events (L-PPA, (P = 0.023); SBP, (P = 0.050); O-SBP, (P = 0.015)), whereas L-PPA (P = 0.012) and L-SBP (P = 0.006) were also independent determinants of total mortality. Compared with the subjects without any BP pattern, the presence of 2 or 3 BP patterns was associated with an increase in total mortality and major CV events greater than 2 and 2.5 times, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In very old frail subjects, there is a particular interest for using different BP measurement approaches, than in younger populations, in order to evaluate the risks related to the BP levels.