The purpose of this study was to estimate the current prevalence and distribution of hypertension and to determine the status of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in the US adult population. The study used a cross-sectional survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States, including an in-home interview and a clinic examination, each of which included measurement of blood pressure. Data for 9901 participants 18 years of age and older from phase 1 of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, collected from 1988 through 1991, were used. Twenty-four percent of the US adult population representing 43,186,000 persons had hypertension. The age-adjusted prevalence in the non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, and Mexican American populations was 32.4%, 23.3%, and 22.6%, respectively. Overall, two thirds of the population with hypertension were aware of their diagnosis (69%), and a majority were taking prescribed medication (53%). Only one third of Mexican Americans with hypertension were being treated (35%), and only 14% achieved control in contrast to 25% and 24% of the non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white populations with hypertension, respectively. Almost 13 million adults classified as being normotensive reported being told on one or more occasions that they had hypertension; 51% of this group reported current adherence to lifestyle changes to control their hypertension. Hypertension continues to be a common finding in the general population. Awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension have improved substantially since the 1976-1980 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey but continue to be suboptimal, especially in Mexican Americans.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

BACKGROUND: Prevention and control of disease and injury require information about the leading medical causes of illness and exposures or risk factors. The assessment of the public-health importance of these has been hampered by the lack of common methods to investigate the overall, worldwide burden. The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) provides a standardised approach to epidemiological assessment and uses a standard unit, the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), to aid comparisons. METHODS: DALYs for each age-sex group in each GBD region for 107 disorders were calculated, based on the estimates of mortality by cause, incidence, average age of onset, duration, and disability severity. Estimates of the burden and prevalence of exposure in different regions of disorders attributable to malnutrition, poor water supply, sanitation and personal and domestic hygiene, unsafe sex, tobacco use, alcohol, occupation, hypertension, physical inactivity, use of illicit drugs, and air pollution were developed. FINDINGS: Developed regions account for 11.6% of the worldwide burden from all causes of death and disability, and account for 90.2% of health expenditure worldwide. Communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional disorders explain 43.9%; non-communicable causes 40.9%; injuries 15.1%; malignant neoplasms 5.1%; neuropsychiatric conditions 10.5%; and cardiovascular conditions 9.7% of DALYs worldwide. The ten leading specific causes of global DALYs are, in descending order, lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, perinatal disorders, unipolar major depression, ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, tuberculosis, measles, road-traffic accidents, and congenital anomalies. 15.9% of DALYs worldwide are attributable to childhood malnutrition and 6.8% to poor water, and sanitation and personal and domestic hygiene. INTERPRETATION: The three leading contributors to the burden of disease are communicable and perinatal disorders affecting children. The substantial burdens of neuropsychiatric disorders and injuries are under-recognised. The epidemiological transition in terms of DALYs has progressed substantially in China, Latin America and the Caribbean, other Asia and islands, and the middle eastern crescent. If the burdens of disability and death are taken into account, our list differs substantially from other lists of the leading causes of death. DALYs provide a common metric to aid meaningful comparison of the burden of risk factors, diseases, and injuries.

The Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program issued an evidence-based set of guidelines on cholesterol management in 2001. Since the publication of ATP III, 5 major clinical trials of statin therapy with clinical end points have been published. These trials addressed issues that were not examined in previous clinical trials of cholesterol-lowering therapy. The present document reviews the results of these recent trials and assesses their implications for cholesterol management. Therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) remain an essential modality in clinical management. The trials confirm the benefit of cholesterol-lowering therapy in high-risk patients and support the ATP III treatment goal of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)<100 mg/dL. They support the inclusion of patients with diabetes in the high-risk category and confirm the benefits of LDL-lowering therapy in these patients. They further confirm that older persons benefit from therapeutic lowering of LDL-C. The major recommendations for modifications to footnote the ATP III treatment algorithm are the following. In high-risk persons, the recommended LDL-C goal is <100 mg/dL, but when risk is very high, an LDL-C goal of <70 mg/dL is a therapeutic option, ie, a reasonable clinical strategy, on the basis of available clinical trial evidence. This therapeutic option extends also to patients at very high risk who have a baseline LDL-C < 100 mg/dL. Moreover, when a high-risk patient has high triglycerides or low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), consideration can be given to combining a fibrate or nicotinic acid with an LDL-lowering drug. For moderately high-risk persons (2+ risk factors and 10-year risk 10% to 20%), the recommended LDL-C goal is <130 mg/dL, but an LDL-C goal <100 mg/dL is a therapeutic option on the basis of recent trial evidence. The latter option extends also to moderately high-risk persons with a baseline LDL-C of 100 to 129 mg/dL. When LDL-lowering drug therapy is employed in high-risk or moderately high-risk persons, it is advised that intensity of therapy be sufficient to achieve at least a 30% to 40% reduction in LDL-C levels. Moreover, any person at high risk or moderately high risk who has lifestyle-related risk factors (eg, obesity, physical inactivity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL-C, or metabolic syndrome) is a candidate for TLC to modify these risk factors regardless of LDL-C level. Finally, for people in lower-risk categories, recent clinical trials do not modify the goals and cutpoints of therapy.

CONTEXT: Prior analyses of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data through 1991 have suggested that hypertension prevalence is declining, but more recent self-reported rates of hypertension suggest that the rate is increasing. OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the United States using NHANES data. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Survey using a stratified multistage probability sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. The most recent NHANES survey, conducted in 1999-2000 (n = 5448), was compared with the 2 phases of NHANES III conducted in 1988-1991 (n = 9901) and 1991-1994 (n = 9717). Individuals aged 18 years or older were included in this analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hypertension, defined as a measured blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg or greater or reported use of antihypertensive medications. Hypertension awareness and treatment were assessed with standardized questions. Hypertension control was defined as treatment with antihypertensive medication and a measured blood pressure of less than 140/90 mm Hg. RESULTS: In 1999-2000, 28.7% of NHANES participants had hypertension, an increase of 3.7%(95% confidence interval [CI], 0%-8.3%) from 1988-1991. Hypertension prevalence was highest in non-Hispanic blacks (33.5%), increased with age (65.4% among those aged > or =60 years), and tended to be higher in women (30.1%). In a multiple regression analysis, increasing age, increasing body mass index, and non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity were independently associated with increased rates of hypertension. Overall, in 1999-2000, 68.9% were aware of their hypertension (nonsignificant decline of -0.3%; 95% CI,-4.2% to 3.6%), 58.4% were treated (increase of 6.0%; 95% CI, 1.2%-10.8%), and hypertension was controlled in 31.0%(increase of 6.4%; 95% CI, 1.6%-11.2%). 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. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to earlier reports, hypertension prevalence is increasing in the United States. Hypertension control rates, although improving, continue to be low. Programs targeting hypertension prevention and treatment are of utmost importance.

OBJECTIVE.- To examine the prevalence, incidence, predisposing factors for hypertension, its hazards as an ingredient of the cardiovascular risk profile, and the implications of this information for prevention and treatment. METHODS.- Prospective longitudinal analysis of 36-year follow-up data from the Framingham Study of the relation of antecedent blood pressure to occurrence of subsequent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality depending on the metabolically linked burden of associated risk factors. RESULTS.- Hypertension is one of the most prevalent and powerful contributors to cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in the United States. There is, on average, a 20 mm Hg systolic and 10 mm Hg diastolic increment increase in blood pressure from age 30 to 65 years. Isolated systolic hypertension is the dominant variety. There is no evidence of a decline in the prevalence of hypertension over 4 decades despite improvements in its detection and treatment. Hypertension contributes to all of the major atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease outcomes increasing risk, on average, 2- to 3-fold. Coronary disease, the most lethal and common sequela, deserves highest priority. Hypertension clusters with dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and obesity, occurring in isolation in less than 20%. The hazard depends on the number of these associated metabolically linked risk factors present. Coexistent overt cardiovascular disease also influences the hazard and choice of therapy. CONCLUSION.- The absence of a decline in the prevalence of hypertension indicates an urgent need for primary prevention by weight control, exercise, and reduced salt and alcohol intake. The urgency and choice of therapy of existing hypertension should be based on the multivariate cardiovascular risk profile that more appropriately targets hypertensive persons for treatment and prevention of cardiovascular sequelae.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of hypertension is one of the most common clinical responsibilities of U.S. physicians, yet only one fourth of patients with hypertension have their blood pressure adequately controlled. METHODS: We analyzed data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess the role of access to and use of health care in the control of hypertension. We assessed demographic characteristics, clinical data, health insurance status, and awareness and treatment of hypertension in subjects with hypertension (defined as a blood pressure of at least 140/90 mm Hg or the use of antihypertensive medication) and subjects without hypertension. RESULTS: The study sample consisted of 16,095 adults who were at least 25 years old and for whom blood-pressure values were known. We estimated that 27 percent of the population had hypertension, but only 23 percent of those with hypertension were taking medications that controlled their condition. Among subjects with untreated or uncontrolled hypertension, the pattern was an elevation in the systolic blood pressure with a diastolic pressure of less than 90 mm Hg. The great majority had health insurance. Independent predictors of a lack of awareness of hypertension were an age of at least 65 years, male sex, non-Hispanic black race, and not having visited a physician within the preceding 12 months. The same variables, except for non-Hispanic black race, were independently associated with poor control of hypertension among those who were aware of their condition. An age of at least 65 years accounted for the greatest proportion of the attributable risk of the lack of awareness of hypertension and the lack of control of hypertension among those who were aware of their condition. CONCLUSIONS: Most cases of uncontrolled hypertension in the United States consist of isolated, mild systolic hypertension in older adults, most of whom have access to health care and relatively frequent contact with physicians.

In the nationwide Community Hypertension Evaluation Clinic screening of more than 1 million people, the group classifying itself as overweight had prevalence rates of hypertension 50% to 300% higher than other screenees. Frequency of hypertension in overweight persons aged 20 to 39 years was double that of normal weight and triple that of underweight persons. Among those aged 40 to 64 years, the overweight group had a 50% higher hypertension prevalence rate than the normal-weight group and 100% higher than the underweight group. With each higher degree of blood pressure elevation, relative frequency of hypertension with overweight was larger. Thus this study confirms, in the largest group surveyed to date, similar findings in previous cross-sectional surveys. It is also consistent with data from longitudinal and intervention studies on the importance of overweight in relation to hypertension.