title: Prevalence and incidence of hypertension in a population cohort of people aged 65 years or older in Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence and incidence of hypertension in a Spanish cohort of people aged at least 65 years with 13 years' follow-up. This is the first study to provide age-adjusted and sex-adjusted incidence rates of hypertension in a Mediterranean-based population aged 65 years or older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based longitudinal study set in the city of Leganes, Spain. The cross-sectional prevalence of hypertension was estimated using data available for the 1993, 1995, 1999, and 2006 cohorts. The incidence density (incident cases of hypertension/person-years) was calculated for 522 individuals without hypertension at baseline. Individuals were classified as hypertensive if they were taking physician-prescribed medication for hypertension or if their blood pressure was equal to or greater than 140/90 mmHg.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertension prevalence increased progressively with time, from 53.5% in 1993 to 86.2% in 2006. In all four waves, women had a higher prevalence of hypertension than men (P < 0.05). The total incidence density of hypertension was 7.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.6-8.7] cases per 100 person-years of follow-up: 9.0 (95% CI 7.2-11.2) in women and 6.9 (95% CI 5.8-8.3) in men. In all age groups, the incidence density was nonsignificantly higher in women than in men (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both the incidence and prevalence of hypertension in this population of people aged at least 65 years were high, and the prevalence increased dramatically over time, especially among women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. alicia.gutierrez@uam.es
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Misis
authors.forename: Maria T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Santos
authors.forename: Jose R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Banegas
authors.forename: Maria V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zunzunegui
authors.forename: Maria V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Castell
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Otero
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology