title: Prevalence and unawareness of hypertension in the petrochemical industrial population in China.
abstract: This article reports the prevalence and unawareness of hypertension in a petrochemical industrial population. Data were obtained from the First Shanghai Petrochemical Complex Hypertension Survey, which was part of the first round of the Health Examination Survey Program (n = 29,391) from May 1979 through June 1982. In this study, 27,256 workers and staff were screened for hypertension (screening rate = 92.74%) in 19 plants of the Shanghai Petrochemical Complex. The overall prevalence rate was 3.05% (standard prevalence rate = 3.33%). Under age 60 years, the rates of hypertension were similar in both sexes except for the age group 30-39 (P less than 0.01). Of 830 hypertensives detected, 245 (29.5%) were unaware of their hypertension at the time of screening, with men ages 30-39 having the highest level of unawareness (45.2%, P less than 0.005). The importance of periodic, organized health examination surveys is stressed, and it is emphasized that they are imperative for the early detection and control of hypertension, as indicated by the fact that so many of the hypertensives detected by this screening were completely unaware of their elevated blood pressures. It is also concluded that special care should be directed toward men under age 30.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001364:Awareness; D002681:China; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D010578:Petroleum; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum