Intensive blood pressure (BP) control did not significantly reduce the risk of probable dementia among adults with hypertension, according to a new study. The randomized clinical trial included 9,361 US adults (mean age 67.9 years; 35.6% women) with hypertension who were randomized to a systolic BP target of <120 mm Hg (intensive treatment group; n=4,678) compared with <140 mm Hg (standard treatment group; n=4,683). The primary cognitive outcome was occurrence of adjudicated probable dementia. Researchers found:

• During a total median follow-up of 5.11 years, adjudicated probable dementia occurred in 149 participants in the intensive treatment group vs 176 in the standard treatment group (7.2 vs 8.6 cases per 1,000 person-years).
• Intensive BP control significantly reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment and the combined rate of mild cognitive impairment or probable dementia.