title: Impact of hypertension on global cardiovascular risk stratification: analysis of a large cohort of outpatient population in Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Control of hypertension remains a major unmet need, worldwide.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test whether the presence of hypertension may improve global cardiovascular (CV) risk stratification and achievement of therapeutic targets for CV risk factors in adult outpatients in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physicians were asked to submit data covering the first 10 consecutive adult outpatients. All data were centrally analyzed for global CV risk assessment and rates of control of major CV risk factors, mostly blood pressure (BP) levels, in different high-risk subgroups of hypertensive patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 1078 physicians collected data of 9864 outpatients (46.7% females, age 66.1 ± 10.3 years) with valuable data on BP levels, among which 7147 (72.5%) had a diagnosis of hypertension and 2717 (27.5%) were normotensive subjects. Hypertensive patients were older and had a higher prevalence of major risk factors, including smoking, obesity, dyslipidemia, and family history of cardiovascular disease, as well as comorbidities, than did normotensive subjects (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Despite worse control of BP (66.9% vs 36.2%, P < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (40.5% vs 37.4%, P < 0.005), triglycerides (72.1% vs 67.8%, P < 0.001), and fasting plasma glucose (71.2% vs 67.0%, P < 0.005), hypertension was associated with larger availability and frequency of diagnostic examinations and greater use of antihypertensive, glucose-lowering, and lipid-lowering drugs, as well as antiplatelet agents, compared with normotension (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Presence of hypertension significantly improved clinical data collection and CV risk stratification. Such an approach, however, was not paralleled by better control of major CV risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University of Rome Sapienza, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy; IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tocci
authors.forename: Allegra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Battistoni
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Agostino
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Palano
authors.forename: Jasmine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Passerini
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Francia
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volpe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002784:Cholesterol