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CDC: Control not achieved in more than half of US adults with hypertension
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Less than half of U.S. adults with hypertension have their BP under control, according to a data brief released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
“Despite progress in hypertension control that has been noted in the United States over the years, the goal of Healthy People 2020 (61.2% by 2020) has not been met,” Cheryl D. Fryar, MSPH, from the division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys at the National Center for Health Statistics, and colleagues wrote in the brief. “Currently just less than one-half of adults with hypertension have their hypertension under control (48.3%).”
Using NHANES survey data, the researchers found the overall prevalence of hypertension among U.S. adults from 2015 to 2016 was 29% and was similar in men and women (men, 30.2%; women, 27.7%). This prevalence grew more common with age, increasing from 7.5% among those aged 18 to 39 years to 33.2% among adults aged 40 to 59 years and 63.1% in those aged at least 60 years.
Although men had higher rates of hypertension than women among adults aged 18 to 39 years (9.2% vs. 5.6%) and aged 40 to 59 years (37.2% vs. 29.4%), men had lower prevalence of hypertension than women among adults aged at least 60 years (58.5% vs. 66.8%).
The researchers noted that hypertension prevalence was highest in non-Hispanic black adults (40.3%) compared with other races and ethnicities (non-Hispanic white adults, 27.8%; non-Hispanic Asian adults, 25%; Hispanic adults, 27.8%).
Among adults with hypertension, 32.5% of those aged 18 to 39 years had it controlled vs. 50.8% of those aged 40 to 59 years and 49.4% of those aged at least 60 years, according to the report.
Women were more likely than men to have their hypertension controlled (52.5% vs. 45.7%), especially in adults aged 18 to 39 years (62.6% vs. 15.5%).
Rates of hypertension control were higher in non-Hispanic white adults (50.8%) vs. non-Hispanic black adults (44.6%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (37.4%).
According to the brief, there has been no significant change in hypertension prevalence among U.S. adults between 1999 and 2016. Although prevalence of controlled hypertension among those with hypertension rose from 31.6% in 1999-2000 to 53.1% in 2009-2010, it has not changed significantly since then, Fryar and colleagues wrote, noting the decline in controlled hypertension from 53.9% in 2013-2014 to 48.3% in 2015-2016 was not significant. – by Dave Quaile
Disclosures: The authors are employees of the National Center for Health Statistics.
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