Seven-year increase in exercise systolic blood pressure at moderate workload predicts long-term risk of coronary heart disease and mortality in healthy middle-aged men.

Exercise systolic blood pressure (SBP) predicts coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population. We tested whether changes in exercise SBP during 7 years predict CHD (including angina pectoris, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and fatal CHD) and mortality over the following 28 years. Peak SBP at 100 W workload (=5.5 METS [metabolic equivalents]; completed by all participants) was measured among 1392 apparently healthy men in 1972-75 and repeated in 1979-82. The men were divided into quartiles (Q1-Q4) of exercise SBP change. Relative risks were calculated using Cox proportional hazard regression adjusting for family history of CHD, age, smoking status, resting SBP, peak SBP at 100 W, total cholesterol at first examination (model 1), and further for physical fitness and change in physical fitness (model 2). The highest quartile, Q4, was associated with a 1.55-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.17-2.03) adjusted (model 1) risk of CHD and a 1.93-fold (1.24-3.02) risk of coronary heart death compared with the lowest, Q1. Q4 had a 1.40-fold (1.06-1.85) risk of CHD and a 1.70-fold (1.08-2.68) risk of coronary heart death using model 2. Q4 was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death and all-cause death compared with Q1 in model 1, but not in model 2. Our results indicate that an increase in exercise SBP at 100 W over 7 years is independently associated with increased long-term risk of CHD and substantiate our previous finding that high exercise SBP is an important risk factor for CHD in healthy men.