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CDC findings highlight need for awareness, treatment of hypertension
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Among 67 million Americans with hypertension, more than half of those patients don’t have their condition under control, according to data published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Researchers at the CDC analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2003-2010) to investigate awareness and pharmacologic treatment of uncontrolled hypertension among US adults. The analyses focused on three groups: patients unaware of their hypertension; patients aware but not treated with medication; and patients who were treated with medication but still had uncontrolled hypertension.
“We have to roll up our sleeves and make blood pressure control a priority every day, with every patient, at every doctor’s visit,” CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, said during a CDC telebriefing on the report.
Thomas R. Frieden
Courtesy of the
New York City
Department of Health
Amy Valderrama, PhD, RN, an epidemiologist in the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the CDC, and colleagues found that the overall prevalence of hypertension among US adults aged ≥18 years (n=66.9 million) between 2003 and 2010 was 30.4%. Uncontrolled hypertension was highest among adults reporting no medical care in the previous year (93.3%), those with a usual source of health care (87.4%), and those without health insurance (71.8%), they wrote.
Moreover, among the 35.8 million patients with uncontrolled hypertension, 32 million (89.4%) reported having usual health care, while 31.4 million (87.7%) received medical care in the previous year, and 30.5 million (85.2%) had health insurance.
Of the patients with uncontrolled hypertension, 14.1 million (39.4%) patients were unaware of their hypertension, researchers wrote. Additionally, 5.7 million adults (15.8%) were aware but not treated with medication, and 16 million (44.8%) were treated with medication but still had uncontrolled hypertension.
According to a press release, hypertension accounts for $131 billion in healthcare costs each year. Researchers recommend that a team-based approach assist in identifying and treating patients with hypertension.
“High blood pressure is public health enemy number two. We know what to do about it, but most Americans with high blood pressure (54%; 36 million Americans), don’t have their blood pressure under control. The largest group of those are on treatment, but perhaps not adequate to control their blood pressure or not taking their medications regularly,” Frieden said.
“However, we’ve seen large and small systems in urban and rural areas and all parts of the country get their control numbers much higher than they were just a year or two ago by focusing on getting blood pressure under control by supporting doctors, pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners and others with information by ensuring that patients have their questions answered and access to treatment, ideally at low or no copayment.”
Frieden expressed his optimism that the CDC will be able to report a significant reduction in these numbers in years to come. Beginning tomorrow (September 5, 2012), the US Department of Health & Human Services will co-lead the Million Hearts program (millionhearts.hhs.gov/index.html) with the CDC and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The program’s goal is to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Additionally, Frieden said it is his hope that the initiative will also increase the amount of patients whose hypertension is under control by 10 million people.
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