Baseline characteristics of the studied population
| Overall | Normal SBP | Elevated SBP | P value | |
| n | 31 363 | 15 913 | 15 450 | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 63.81 (7.66) | 61.88 (7.60) | 65.79 (7.21) | <0.001 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 14 840 (47.3) | 6320 (39.7) | 8520 (55.1) | <0.001 |
| Ethnic background, n (%) | 0.07 | |||
| Asian | 381 (1.2) | 201 (1.3) | 180 (1.2) | |
| Black | 156 (0.5) | 69 (0.4) | 87 (0.6) | |
| Mixed | 128 (0.4) | 77 (0.5) | 51 (0.3) | |
| Other | 159 (0.5) | 86 (0.5) | 73 (0.5) | |
| White | 30 459 (97.4) | 15 435 (97.3) | 15 021 (97.5) | |
| European ancestry, n (%) | 27 444 (87.5) | 13 758 (86.5) | 13 684 (88.6) | <0.001 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| Never | 19 155 (61.1) | 10 039 (63.1) | 9116 (59.0) | |
| Previous | 10 288 (32.8) | 4812 (30.2) | 5476 (35.4) | |
| Current | 1920 (6.1) | 1062 (6.7) | 858 (5.6) | |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 26.52 (4.17) | 25.73 (3.93) | 27.34 (4.25) | <0.001 |
| SBP (mmHg), mean (SD) | 138.7 (18.6) | 125.1 (10.1) | 152.6 (14.6) | <0.001 |
| DBP (mmHg), mean (SD) | 81.4 (9.9) | 76.5 (7.3) | 86.5 (9.5) | <0.001 |
| LDL-C (mmol/L), mean (SD) | 3.59 (0.83) | 3.51 (0.81) | 3.66 (0.84) | <0.001 |
| Haemoglobin A1c (%), mean (SD) | 5.35 (0.46) | 5.31 (0.43) | 5.39 (0.48) | <0.001 |
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 895 (2.9) | 392 (2.5) | 503 (3.3) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 1155 (3.7) | 448 (2.8) | 707 (4.6) | <0.001 |
Elevated SBP was defined as ≥140 mm Hg.
BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP, systolic blood pressure.