Factors Associated With Hypertension Control in the General Population of the United States

Abstract
HYPERTENSION IS an important public health challenge in the United States. As many as 50 million Americans have hypertension, defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) of 140 mm Hg or more and/or diastolic BP of 90 mm Hg or more and/or taking antihypertensive medication.1 More than $26.1 billion is spent annually for medications, office visits, and laboratory tests related to treatment of hypertension in the United States.2 Observational epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that hypertension is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (the leading cause of death in the United States), stroke (the third leading cause of death), congestive heart failure, end-stage renal disease, and peripheral vascular disease.3-6 Clinical trials have shown that lowering BP reduces the incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular disease.7,8