Abstract: Objective To investigate the incidence and risk factors of prehypertension among adults in mainland China and
identify the high-risk population. Methods Six databases including Chinese Biological Medical Literature Database (CBM),
Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang
Database (WF), PubMed and Web of Knowledge were searched for publications documenting the incidence and risk factors of
prehypertension among general population in Chinese adults. Eligible studies were selected according to the inclusion and
exclusion criteria for meta-analysis using Stata software and RevMan software. Results Twenty-one published studies were
finally included. The results showed that the incidence of prehypertension was 37% in Chinese adults. The pooled SMD (95%
confidence interval [CI]) was 0.37 (0.29-0.46) for body mass index, 0.20 (0.12-0.27) for fasting blood glucose (FPG), 0.17
(0.15-0.19) for total cholesterol (TC), 0.22 (0.17-0.27) for triglyceride (TG), 0.13 (0.10-0.15) for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
(LDL-C), and -0.07 (-0.16-0.02) for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). For smoking, drinking and family history of
hypertension, the pooled OR (95% CI) were 1.44 (1.40-1.47), 1.60 (1.44-1.79), and 1.19 (1.04-1.35), respectively. Conclusion The
incidence of prehypertension among adults in mainland China is relatively high, especially in males. BMI, FBG, TC, TG,
LDL-C, smoking, drinking and family history of hypertension are positively related to prehypertension, and early intervention
is recommended to reverse these modifiable risk factors.