Objective
The main objective is to investigate whether antihypertensive therapy, in patients above age 60 with isolated systolic hypertension (systolic blood pressure > 160 mmHg and diastolic < 95 mmHg), will decrease morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life.
We test the 2-sided hypothesis that the projected rate of 17 fatal and non-fatal strokers per 1000 patient-year will be altered by 40% on active treatment, with a significance of 1% and a power of 90%.
Additional Objectives
Vascular Dementia: To investigate whether antihypertensive drug therapy will decrease the development of vascular dementia in this population.
Twenty-four hour blood pressure recording: Conventional blood pressure recording is up to now the standard method for research and therapy in the cardiovascular field. This additional objective tests the hypothesis that 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements add to the prediction of cardiovascular risk, already obtained with conventional readings. It provides the opportunity to evaluate the 24-hour blood pressure profile and to investigate whether a better selection is possible of patients in whom antihypertensive drug treatment is indicated or not.
Quality of Life: To investigate whether antihypertensive therapy may improve the quality of life.
Coordinator
3000 Leuven
Belgium
