Methods
Participants
The medical ethics committee of the General Hospital of
Tianjin Medical University approved our study and written
informed consent was obtained from all participants.
‘Normtension’ was defined as BP < 140/90 mmHg and not
taking antihypertensive medication. ‘Hypertension’ was
defined as systolic BP (SBP) ‡140 mmHg, diastolic BP
(DBP) ‡90 mmHg, or being on antihypertensive medications
(actual or self-reported) regardless of BP measurements
(Chinese guidelines for hypertension prevention and control
amending committee 2005).