PRIMARY PREVENTION OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE THROUGH POPULATION-BASED STRATEGIES FOR BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL: THE ARIC STUDY

While much of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) literature focuses on the role of blood pressure reduction in delaying CKD progression, little is known about the benefits of modest population-wide decrements in blood pressure on incident CKD. The authors used multivariable linear regression to characterize the impact on incident CKD of two approaches for blood pressure management: (1) a 1-mm Hg reduction in systolic BP across the entire study population; and (2) a 10% reduction in participants with unaware, untreated, and uncontrolled BP above goal as defined by the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) thresholds. Over a mean of 20 years of follow-up (ARIC [Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities] study, n = 15 390), 3852 incident CKD events were ascertained. After adjustment, a 1-mm Hg decrement in systolic BP across the population was associated with an estimated 11.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.2-17.3) and 13.4 (95% CI, 10.3-16.6) fewer CKD events per 100 000 person-years in blacks and whites, respectively. Among participants with BP above JNC 7 goal, a 10% decrease in unaware, untreated, or uncontrolled BP was associated with 3.2 (95% CI, 2.0-4.9), 2.8 (95% CI, 1.8-4.3), and 5.8 (95% CI, 3.6-8.8) fewer CKD events per 100 000 person-years in blacks and 3.1 (95% CI, 2.3-4.1), 0.7 (95% CI, 0.5-0.9), and 1.0 (95% CI, 1.3-2.4) fewer CKD events per 100 000 person-years in whites. Modest population-wide reductions in systolic BP hold potential for the primary prevention of CKD.