This study evaluated the age-specific association of systolic blood pressure variability with cardiovascular disease and mortality in Type-2 diabetic patients. The detrimental effects of increased systolic blood pressure variability on cardiovascular disease and mortality risk in diabetic patients remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective cohort study investigated 155,982 diabetic patients aged from 45 to 84 years old without prior history of cardiovascular disease at baseline from 2008 to

more »

... . systolic blood pressure variability was estimated using systolic blood pressure standard deviation from mixed effects model to reduce regression dilution bias. Age-specific associations (45-54; 55-64; 65-74; 75-84 years) between systolic blood pressure variability, cardiovascular disease and mortality risk were assessed by Cox regression adjusted for patient characteristics with subgroups stratified by subject baseline characteristics. Results: After a median follow-up of 9.7 years (16.4 million person-years), 49,816 events (including 34,039 events with and 29,211 mortalities) were identified. Elevated and independent systolic blood pressure variability was positively and log-linearly associated with higher risk on cardiovascular disease and mortality among all age groups, without evidence of a specific threshold. The cardiovascular disease and mortality risk per 5mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure variability within 45-54 years age group is over three times higher than the 70-79 years age group [Hazard Ratio: 1.66 (1.49, 1.85) vs. Hazard Ratio: 1.19 (1.15, 1.23)]. The significant associations remained consistent among all subgroups. Patients with younger age, lower systolic blood pressure and comorbidity with more types of anti-hypertensive prescription drug users had higher hazard ratios. Conclusions: The findings suggest that systolic blood pressure variability was strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality risk without evidence of a specific threshold in diabetic population. In addition to optimize blood pressure control, the systolic blood