Hypertension awareness has improved significantly in adults since 2002, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
The percentage of adults aged 18-39 years who had hypertension but reported not being told about it by a health care provider dropped 36% from 1999-2002, when it was 48.3%, to 2011-2014, when it was down to 30.8%. For adults aged 40-59 years, 26.6% were unaware of their hypertension in 1999-2002, compared with 17.4% in 2011-2014, a relative decrease of almost 35%. The decline was an even larger 55% for those aged 60 years and over – from 27.6% in 1999-2002 to 12.5% in 2011-2014, the NCHS reported.
The analysis used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in which participants are interviewed in their homes and examined in mobile centers by trained physicians. Up to three blood pressure readings are taken using a standardized protocol, with most subjects (95%) getting two or three measurements.
