Brachial pulse pressure and cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in the general population: a meta-analysis of prospective observational studies.

This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the predictive value of brachial pulse pressure and cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in the general population based on prospective observational studies by conducting a meta-analysis. Only prospective observational studies investigating baseline brachial pulse pressure and cardiovascular or all-cause mortality risk were selected from PubMed and Embase databases until July 2013. Fourteen studies involving 510,456 participants were analyzed. Pooled risk ratio (RR) of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality for the highest vs lowest brachial pulse pressure category was 1.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49-2.17) and 1.32 (95% CI, 1.23-1.41), respectively. Pooled RR of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality per 10 mm Hg pulse pressure increment was 1.13 (95% CI, 1.10-1.17) and 1.09 (95% CI, 1.07-1.11), respectively. Wide brachial pulse pressure is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. However, more well-designed studies specifically on age and sex are needed to further confirm these findings.