Table 1 Baseline characteristics of blood pressure and EKG cohorts, as well as all ambulatory care patients prior to eligibility screening.

From: Blood pressure variability supersedes heart rate variability as a real-world measure of dementia risk

Characteristic

All ambulatory care patients (n = 631,216)

BP cohort (n = 48,204)

EKG cohort (n = 7270)

Demographic characteristics

Age, years, mean (SD)

46.26 (20.65)

54.87 (17.50)

68.11 (15.77)

Age, ≥ 65 years, n (%)

140,988 (22.3)

15,397 (31.9)

4517 (62.1)

Female, n (%)

358,869 (56.9)

29,011 (60.2)

4015 (55.2)

Race/ethnicity, n (%)

 Asian

51,134 (8.1)

4437 (9.2)

483 (6.6)

 Hispanic/Latinx

75,291 (11.9)

5322 (11.0)

691 (9.5)

 Non-Hispanic Black

59,163 (9.4)

6385 (13.2)

1111 (15.3)

 Non-Hispanic White

357,461 (56.6)

29,483 (61.2)

4735 (65.1)

 Othera

28,359 (4.5)

1423 (3.0)

214 (2.9)

Smoking status, n (%)

 Current

39,683 (6.3)

2266 (4.7)

320 (4.4)

 Former

119,872 (19.0)

14,011 (29.1)

2832 (39.0)

 Never

410,407 (65.0)

31,927 (66.2)

4118 (56.6)

Clinical characteristics

Follow-up length, mean (SD), years

2.45 (0.97)

2.37 (1.03)

Follow-up length, median [IQR], years

3.00 [2.36, 3.00]

3.0 (2.0, 3.0)

Number of blood pressures recorded during study period, mean (SD)

6.88 (11.17)

15.39 (13.86)

23.86 (18.38)

Number of blood pressures recorded during study period, median [IQR]

3.00 [1.00, 8.00]

12.00 [8.00, 18.00]

19.0 [12.0, 30.0]

Diabetes mellitus, n (%)

5721 (11.9)

1409 (19.4)

Renal disease, n (%)

3559 (7.4)

1250 (17.2)

Atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, n (%)

3376 (7.0)

1261 (17.3)

Coronary artery disease, n (%)

5441 (11.3)

1960 (27.0)

Metastatic malignancy, n (%)

872 (1.8)

318 (4.4)

Myocardial Infarction, n (%)

1807 (3.7)

814 (11.2)

Heart failure, n (%)

4122 (8.6)

1709 (23.5)

Stroke, n (%)

2543 (5.3)

851 (11.7)

Blood pressure characteristics

Antihypertensive use, n (%)

13,539 (28.1)

3351 (46.1)

Mean systolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mmHg

122.69 (15.16)

123.96 (12.09)

126.99 (11.78)

Mean systolic blood pressure, median [IQR], mmHg

121.67 [112.00, 132.00]

123.43 [115.30, 131.80]

127.0 [119.0, 134.0]

Mean diastolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mmHg

74.03 (9.36)

73.77 (7.18)

72.97 (7.43)

Mean diastolic blood pressure, median [IQR], mmHg

74.00 [68.00, 80.00]

73.46 [68.81, 78.40]

73.0 [68.0, 78.0]

Heart rate characteristics

Number of EKGs, mean (SD)

2.74 (3.59)

Number of EKGs, median [IQR]

2.0 [1.0, 3.0]

Heart rate, mean (SD)

73.91 (24.18)

Heart rate, median [IQR]

70.0 [62.0, 81.0]

Number of QRS complexes, mean (SD)

10.76 (2.7)

Number of QRS complexes, median [IQR]

10 [9, 12]

  1. aOther race includes American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and Other.
  2. SD standard deviation, IQR interquartile range.