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עמוד בית
Wed, 04.12.24

Original Articles

IMAJ | volume 9

Journal 1, January 2007
pages: 8-11

Pre-Hypertension is a Common Phenomenon: National Database Study*

    Summary

    Background: Recently the Joint National Committee (7th report) introduced the term “pre-hypertension.” Little is known on its prevalence in the general population.

    Objectives: To assess the prevalence of pre-hypertension in a large national cohort.

    Methods: We analyzed the database of all ≥ 18 year old members of Leumit Health Services, one of the four health management organizations in Israel, from which we retrieved the recorded blood pressure levels. Pre-hypertension was defined according to the JNC-7[1] criteria.

    Results: Of the 426,033 subjects 18.6% had a diagnosis of hypertension or used antihypertensive medications. Only 40.8% of the other 346,799 subjects had had their BP[2] measured in the preceding 2 years. BP recording rates were higher in females than in males (45.1% vs. 36.3%) and higher in elderly subjects than in young subjects (56% aged 66–75 years vs. 32% aged 18–25). Pre-hypertension was observed in 80,625 (23.2%) of the 346,799 while only 56,113 (16.2%) had normal BP records. The prevalence of pre-hypertension increased with age (13.3% aged 18–25 vs. 44.8% aged 66–75), and was more prevalent in men than in women (24.0% vs. 22.5%).

    Conclusions: BP levels among young people are low, even though the prevalence of pre-hypertension in this population may be high. Thus, more emphasis should be given to routine BP measurements and confirmation of the findings in all age groups.



    [1] JNC-7 = Joint National Committee 7th report

    [2] BP = blood pressure

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