Prevalence, awareness and treatment of hypertension in Finland during 1982-2007.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the trends in prevalence and in control of hypertension in various parts of Finland during 1982-2007.


METHODS
Three independent cross-sectional population surveys were conducted in 1982, 2002 and 2007 with age-stratified samples of men and women aged 25-64 years from the national population register. The total number of participants with complete blood pressure (BP) measurements was 16 775.


RESULTS
Overall, during 1982-2007, the prevalence of hypertension (systolic BP > or = 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP > or = 90 mmHg and/or current use of antihypertensive drug treatment) fell significantly in both sexes. In men, it fell from 63.3 to 52.1%; in women, from 48.1 to 33.6% (P < 0.001 for both sexes). However, during the past 5-year period, a decline was observed only in women in south-western Finland (P = 0.003). Furthermore, previously observed significant increases in the proportions of treated and controlled hypertensive individuals did not continue among men during 2002-2007. Despite the evident progress in all aspects of hypertension care since 1982, still in 2007, only 68% of all hypertensive individuals were aware of their condition, 52% of those who were aware were treated with antihypertensive drugs and 37% of the drug-treated patients had normal BP.


CONCLUSIONS
Steady progress has been made in the prevention and treatment of hypertension in Finland. However, further improvements are clearly needed.
Kastarinen
Mika
M
Department of Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, PB 1777, 70211 Kuopio, Finland. mika.kastarinen@kuh.fi
Antikainen
Riitta
R
Peltonen
Markku
M
Laatikainen
Tiina
T
Barengo
Noel C
NC
Jula
Antti
A
Salomaa
Veikko
V
Jousilahti
Pekka
P
Nissinen
Aulikki
A
Vartiainen
Erkki
E
Tuomilehto
Jaakko
J
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors