The ACCF/AHA consensus document highlights the need for further research, including RCTs and comparative effectiveness trials, to define appropriate treatment thresholds, goals, and strategies for hypertension in the elderly.
Research should include both fundamental and clinical investigation defining pathogenesis of increased vascular and LV stiffness; RCTs to define appropriate treatment thresholds and goals; comparative effectiveness trials testing various treatment strategies (ie, different regimens and different intensities of lifestyle modification); and assessing the relative safety and efficacy of these approaches in the prevention of mortality and morbidity.
Aronow et al. (2011) studied this question.