Sex differences in awareness and control of hypertension in France.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension for men and women living in three French regions.


METHODS
A cross-sectional population survey.


METHODS
Subjects in the World Health Organization Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease population surveys of Bas-Rhin, the urban community of Lille and Haute-Garonne, France.


METHODS
We studied 1924 men and 1874 women aged 35-64 years.


METHODS
Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure > or = 160 mmHg, a diastolic blood pressure > or = 95 mmHg, being administered antihypertensive drug treatment or any combination of the foregoing. Treated hypertensive subjects were considered controlled if their systolic blood pressure was < 160 mmHg and their diastolic blood pressure was < 95 mmHg.


RESULTS
The prevalence of hypertension was 40.2, 43.8 and 27.7% among men in Lille, Bas-Rhin and Haute-Garonne, respectively. For women, the corresponding values were 31.5, 33.8 and 18.9%. Among hypertensive men, 51.8% were aware of their condition, 30.0% were being administered drug treatment and 9.2% were controlled; the respective values for hypertensive women were 69.8, 51.2 and 25.3% (P < 0.001). Awareness of hypertension was associated with antihypertensive treatment more commonly in Haute-Garonne (81.0% for men and 84.7% for women). The percentages of treated subjects in whom adequate control of the blood pressure had been achieved were only 30.7% for men and 49.4% for women.


CONCLUSIONS
Women have a better awareness of hypertension than do men and their hypertension is controlled better but the low rate of control for both sexes calls for further improvements.
Marques-Vidal
P
P
Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) group of Toulouse, INSERM U326-ORSMIP, C.H.U. Purpan, France.
Arveiler
D
D
Amouyel
P
P
Bingham
A
A
Ferrières
J
J
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors