Associations of the Triglyceride-Glucose Index With the Risk of Hypertension and Prehypertension

Background: This study aimed to explore the associations between the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and the risk of developing hypertension and prehypertension in a Chinese population from North China. Methods: This study included two sub-studies. Sub-study 1 examined the association between the TyG index and the risk of hypertension. A total of 101,510 participants (81,110 men and 20,400 women, aged 18-98 years) were enrolled in the Kailuan study. Of these, 44,655 individuals with a history of hypertension were excluded, and 56,855 subjects were included in the analysis. Sub-study 2 aimed to examine the association between the TyG index and the risk of prehypertension. A total of 44,655 individuals with a history of hypertension and 35,777 individuals with a history of prehypertension were excluded, leaving 21,078 subjects for analysis. Participants were categorized into four groups (quartiles 1-4) based on the associated baseline TyG index. Cox proportional hazards regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to investigate the association between the TyG index and the risk of hypertension and prehypertension. Results: In sub-study 1, during a median follow-up of 13.94 years, 5825 incident cases of hypertension were reported. Compared with the first quartile, the fourth quartile had the highest hazard ratio (HR) for incident hypertension (HR: 1.352; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.241-1.473). In sub-study 2, during a median follow-up of 3.97 years, 16,982 incident cases of prehypertension were reported. Compared with the first quartile, the fourth quartile had the highest HR for incident prehypertension (HR: 1.148; 95% CI: 1.092-1.207). Conclusions: These findings indicate that an elevated TyG index is associated with an increased risk of hypertension and prehypertension. Clinical Trial Registration: ChiCTR-TNRC-11001489, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=8050.