Nearly three-fourths of American adults with conditions such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or others that raise their risk for cardiovascular complications also have hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a report in the December 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Although about 75 percent of these individuals are being treated for hypertension, only one-third to one-half are reaching blood pressure goals.
Blood pressure control remains a problem in the United States and around the world, according to background information in the article. “Recent estimates indicate little change in the prevalence of hypertension, and, although there seem to be some recent improvements in treatment and control rates, hypertension in many persons remains inadequately controlled,” the authors write.
Nathan D. Wong, Ph.D., of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues analyzed data from adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2003 and 2004, 4,646 adults (representing 192 million nationwide) provided demographic and socioeconomic information and underwent laboratory and physiological testing (including blood pressure measurements).
A total of 1,671 (31.4 percent) of the participants had hypertension, defined as a systolic (top number) blood pressure of at least 140 milligrams of mercury (130 milligrams of mercury in those with diabetes or chronic kidney disease) or a diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure of at least 90 milligrams of mercury (80 milligrams of mercury in those with diabetes or chronic kidney disease), or as reporting use of a blood pressure–lowering medication. The condition was more common in older and black adults. A total of 68.5 percent of those with hypertension were being treated and 52.9 percent of those had their hypertension under control.