Influence of Hispanic Ethnicity on Blood Pressure Control and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Women with CAD and Hypertension: Findings from INVEST

BACKGROUND: Prospective data regarding blood pressure (BP) control and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in Hispanic women are lacking. METHODS: We analyzed 5017 Hispanic and 4710 non-Hispanic white hypertensive women with coronary artery disease (CAD) in the INternational VErapamil SR/Trandolapril STudy (INVEST) to determine the impact of baseline characteristics and BP control on CV outcomes. RESULTS: At baseline, Hispanic women were younger and a had lower prevalence of most established CV risk factors than non-Hispanic white women. At 24 months, BP control (< 140/90 mm Hg) was achieved in 75% of Hispanic and 68% of non-Hispanic white women, (p < 0.001), with most women, regardless of ethnicity, requiring > or =2 antihypertensive agents. Following 26,113 patient-years of follow-up, the primary outcome (first occurrence of nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI], nonfatal stroke, or all cause death) occurred in 5.7% of Hispanic and 12.3% of non-Hispanic white women (adjusted HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.71-0.98, p = 0.03). There was no difference in outcome in either group of women comparing the randomized antihypertensive treatment strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Despite accounting for a lower risk profile, deployment of protocol-based antihypertensive treatment regimens resulted in superior BP control and fewer CV events in Hispanic women compared with non-Hispanic white women.