News - Hypertension Week of July 13, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 28

Study: Three in Ten Adult Americans Have High Blood Pressure

The number of adults in the United States with hypertension is increasing and almost three in 10 adult Americans now have high blood pressure, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In an analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, the researchers found that 28.7 percent of participants had hypertension in the most recent 1999-2000 study, an increase of 3.7 percent since the 1991 study.

The jump reverses a decades-long downward trend for this major cause of heart attacks and strokes, and is the first documented overall increase since the 1960s.

Of those with hypertension, 68.9 percent said they knew of their condition. Of those who knew of their hypertension, 58.4 percent were being treated (an increase of 6 percent from the earlier study) and 53 percent of those being treated had the condition under control, an improvement from 43.6 percent.

"Women, Mexican Americans, and those aged 60 years or older had significantly lower rates of control compared with men, younger individuals, and non-Hispanic whites," the researchers reported.

The factor most clearly associated with hypertension -- defined as 140 over 90 or above --is aging. Nearly two-thirds of those aged 60 and older having high blood pressure, according to the researchers.

"Contrary to earlier reports, hypertension prevalence is increasing in the United States," the researchers concluded. "Hypertension control rates, although improving, continue to be low. Programs targeting hypertension prevention and treatment are of utmost importance."

Other sources: Journal of the American Medical Association