More people are taking antihypertension medications even though the overall rate of hypertension throughout the nation has remained relatively stable, according to a report presented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
The report reflects a need for public health policy that increases the awareness of hypertension and the lifestyle and treatment choices that can help manage the condition, the CDC wrote.
According to the report, between 2017 and 2021, the nationwide rate of hypertension hovered steadily around 30 percent, while the use of medications to treat the condition increased by three percentage points. The CDC noted that these numbers were approximate, as the prevalence of hypertension and use of antihypertension medications varied by age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, and state of residence.
Rates of Hypertension Vary by Age, Sex, Race
The CDC found that in 2021, hypertension was more prevalent in men than in women and most common in people over 65 years old, with a prevalence rate of 60.6 percent. Additionally, it was most prevalent in black Americans, occurring at a rate of 40.2 percent. In contrast, Asian Americans were least likely to experience it, with a prevalence rate of 22.7 percent. Differences in education also played a small role in prevalence; one in three individuals who had less than a high school degree reported having hypertension, whereas one in four with a college degree or higher education reported having it.Like the rate of hypertension, the use of antihypertension medication varied according to sex, race, ethnicity, and level of education. Although hypertension rates were higher in men, women were more likely to use antihypertension medications. The use of medication was also higher in people over the age of 65 than in younger Americans, and blacks used medication more than whites.
The CDC reported that the only group that did not experience higher rates of antihypertension medication use was people with less than a high school education.
Public Health Implications
The CDC noted that these trends serve as “an essential tool for guiding state-level, individual, clinical, and public health policies and interventions.”Hypertension can increase one’s risk of heart disease and stroke, leading causes of death in the United States, according to the CDC. In 2021, the agency reported that hypertension was a primary or contributing cause of just under 700,000 deaths in the United States.
The cost of treating hypertension is astronomical, running about $131 billion each year.
