One in eight people has severe hypertension! A study of one million people in China

At least 50% of deaths from cardiovascular diseases in my country are related to hypertension.

Recently, Li Jing and others from the Fuwai Hospital published a study based on the China PEACE Million Population Project in J Hypertens, showing that among people aged 35 to 75, about 1 in 8 people suffer from severe hypertension.

Researchers estimate that there are approximately 70 million such patients nationwide.

Severe hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mmHg.

The study showed that 14.5% of the 2.6 million participants included in the study had severe hypertension.

Moreover, among these people with severe hypertension, 58.8% did not take antihypertensive drugs, and 27.1% of those who did not receive antihypertensive drug treatment were unaware that they had hypertension.

Studies have shown that among people with severe hypertension, 61.3% have systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg but diastolic blood pressure <100 mmHg, 12.8% have diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mmHg but systolic blood pressure <160 mmHg, and 26% have systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mmHg.

The study also showed that based on the 2010 Chinese census data, the age- and sex-standardized prevalence of severe hypertension was 11.6%.

Further analysis showed that advanced age, female sex, current smoking, obesity, low income, diabetes and previous cardiovascular events were all associated with the risk of severe hypertension.

Although their blood pressure was high, the researchers found that among patients with severe hypertension who had received antihypertensive medication, 84.7% reported taking just one antihypertensive drug, and only 15% reported taking the guideline-recommended combination of antihypertensive drugs.

The study also showed that calcium channel blockers (66.4%) were the most common antihypertensive drugs reported by hypertensive patients, followed by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists (43.7%). The most common combination of two drugs was nifedipine and captopril.

Researchers said that severe hypertension affects many Chinese people, and these patients have a higher risk of complications and adverse cardiovascular consequences, but the awareness and recognition rates are insufficient. Strengthening scientific popularization and optimizing hypertension treatment are both tasks that need to be strengthened in the future, especially for these patients with severe hypertension who need special attention.

This study included 2,618,757 participants aged 35 to 75 years from 31 provincial-level administrative regions in the China PEACE Million Population Project, with an average age of 55.6 years and 59.6% female. Awareness of hypertension was defined as self-reported diagnosis of hypertension; treatment of hypertension was defined as current use of antihypertensive drugs.

Source: China PEACE MPP Collaborative Group. Severe hypertension in China: results from the China PEACE million persons project. J Hypertens, 2021, 39(3): 461-470.

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