Prevalence of hypertension in the population of Castile-Leon [Spain]

OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular disease causes one out of 3 deaths in Spain. Hypertension is involved in ischemic heart disease and in other diseases provoking high morbidity and mortality. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence of hypertension and other indicators of this disorder in Castile-Leon in 2004. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study in a random sample of 4,012 persons aged 15 years old or above, extracted through a two-stage, stratified design. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured, a history was taken and clinical records were reviewed. A person was considered to be hypertensive when there was known hypertension (hyper-tension was recorded in the clinical records or the person was receiving treatment for hypertension) or when systolic blood pressure was 140 mmHg or more and diastolic blood pressure was 90 mmHg or more. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension in the population was 38.7% (95%CI: 36.5-40.9). The prevalence was higher in men (40.4% [95%CI: 37.4-43.4]) than in women (37.4% [95%CI: 34.7-40]). Hypertension was already known in 22.2%, representing 57.4% of all hypertensive individuals. In the remainder of the sample, 44% had prehypertension, 17.5% had stage 1 hypertension and 4% had stage II hypertension, according to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hypertension in the population studied was consistent with that reported in other Spanish studies. A substantial proportion of hypertensive individuals were unaware of their status as such. Equally, a large proportion had prehypertension, which carries a high risk of cardiovascular disease.