Untreated Hypertension Common in the General Public

A recent study conducted by researchers with the Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Center, in Winnipeg, Canada, found an unusually high number of people had high blood pressure, and an unexpectedly large number of people had emergency hypertension levels.

Researchers used mobile clinics in shopping malls, workplaces, hospitals, and community centers to measure blood pressure in 1097 participants between July 2014 and May 2016. The ethnic background, age, occupation, and socio-economic status of participants varied, and the sex distribution was almost even, with 49% males and 51% females tested. About 15% of participants did not have a family physician.
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Auscultatory and oscillometric methods, or just oscillometric methods after participants sat for at least 3 minutes were used to measure blood pressure, with 30% of readings obtained through both blood pressure measurement methods. Participants who had hypertension were asked if they were taking medication to control their blood pressure.

Their results showed that 50% of participants were normotension or prehypertenion, and 50% were hypertensive. In addition, 2% of participants had hypertensive urgency/emergency readings. The majority of participants with hypertension levels did not know their blood pressure was abnormal, and 25% dismissed their results. The participants with hypertension who had been diagnosed previously and stopped taking medications cited side-effects, forgetting to fill their prescriptions, feeling good when not on medication, dismissal of the significance of the diagnosis, or were trying to control their blood pressure through alternative methods as reasons for not taking antihypertensive drugs.

According to researchers, more mobile clinics and awareness campaigns are need to prevent and control high blood pressure and hypertension in the public.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Whitman IR, Agarwal V, Nah G, et al. Alcohol abuse and cardiac disease [published online January 2, 2017]. Journal of American College of Cardiology. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2016.10.048.