Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)
September 30, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Frailty Index Progression Around Hypertension Diagnosis in 14 Countries.
Tang D, Goubar A, Pantoja-Ruiz C, +7 more, O'Connell MDL.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Frailty increased faster before and especially after a hypertension diagnosis in older adults.
What was studied
Cohort of 10,709 participants developing hypertension across 14 countries, compared with matched controls.
Key findings
- Frailty index rose 0.63 points/y before diagnosis and 1.09 points/y after.
- In the 8 years before diagnosis, frailty increased more than controls (difference 2.69).
- Antihypertensive use was associated with a nonsignificant reduction in post-diagnosis frailty progression.
Clinical relevance
Hypertension and frailty are intertwined in older adults.
Who should care
Limitations
Observational, so causality is unclear.
Assess frailty at hypertension diagnosis.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Hypertension and frailty frequently coexist in older adults. However, relationships between their trajectories are unclear. This study aims to examine whether frailty progressed differently between individuals with and without hypertension before and after diagnosis.
Methods
Data were drawn from 3 nationally representative cohorts across 14 countries, including 21 418 participants (mean baseline age 63.2±10.2 years) followed for 16 to 18 years. Individuals with hypertension at baseline were excluded. Hypertension was defined by self-reported physician diagnosis and antihypertensive medication use by self-report of taking any medication. Diagnosis timing was based on the first survey wave at which hypertension was reported. Coarsened exact matching matched participants who developed hypertension with those who did not. Piecewise linear mixed models estimated frailty trajectories before and after diagnosis.
Results
Among 10 709 participants who developed hypertension (median diagnosis age 70 years), frailty index rescaled to a 0 to 100 scale (0-100) increased by 0.63 points/y (95% CI, 0.57-0.70) before diagnosis and 1.09 points/y (95% CI, 0.97-1.21) after diagnosis. During the 8 years preceding diagnosis, participants who developed hypertension experienced greater increases in frailty index rescaled to a 0 to 100 scale than matched controls without hypertension (difference, 2.69 [95% CI, 2.43-2.95]). The corresponding difference during the 8 years after diagnosis was 1.51 (95% CI, 1.01-2.01). Among individuals with hypertension, antihypertensive medication use was associated with a nonsignificant reduction in frailty progression after diagnosis. Findings remained robust after excluding participants with cardiovascular conditions.
Conclusions
Participants with hypertension experienced faster frailty progression before and after diagnosis. Studies using objective blood pressure measurement are needed to confirm this association.
DOI
10.1161/hypertensionaha.126.27590
PMID
42813280
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
Want more like this?
Browse more from the feed. A free account unlocks the full feed, saving and communities.
Back to the research feed