CDC: Overall prevalence of self-reported hypertension 32.4 percent

(HealthDay)—The overall prevalence of self-reported hypertension is 32.4 percent, with prevalence higher among men than women and among blacks, according to research published in the April 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Claudine M. Samanic, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to update prevalence estimates for self-reported hypertension and use of antihypertensive medication.

The researchers found that the overall (unadjusted) prevalence and age-standardized median state-specific prevalence of self-reported hypertension were 32.4 and 29.7 percent, respectively. The prevalence of age-standardized hypertension was higher among men than women (32.9 versus 27.0 percent), was highest among blacks (40.0 percent), and decreased with increasing levels of education and household income. The Southeastern and Appalachian states generally had the highest age-standardized prevalence. The overall unadjusted prevalence of self-reported antihypertensive medication use was 76.0 percent among persons reporting hypertension, while the age-adjusted median state-specific prevalence of antihypertensive medication use was 59.4 percent among persons with reported hypertension.

"CDC has been working closely with states to enhance hypertension management through a strategy of team-based care in which two or more health care providers work collaboratively with each patient," the authors write. "This approach is often multidisciplinary with a team working to educate patients, identify risk factors, provide treatments, and sustain ongoing conversations with patients."

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