Zhang L, Fan F, Qi L, et al. - In this study performed in a community-based population without hypertension at baseline in China, researchers determined how new-onset hypertension in this population could be affected by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Providing complete data for demographics, baseline and follow-up blood pressure measurements, and cIMT measurements at baseline, 672 Chinese people were examined. Participants were observed for 2.3 years. In the groups with thickened cIMT and normal cIMT, the incidence rates of hypertension were estimated to be 19.2 and 9.9%, respectively. Significant associations of both the average and maximum cIMT with new-onset hypertension were revealed following adjustment for multiple confounders in the multivariable logistic regression analyses. Overall, findings revealed a strong link of thickened cIMT with incident hypertension risk in this population.