Gender difference and economic gradients in the secular trend of population systolic blood pressure.

UNLABELLED: To a large extent population blood pressure (PBP) affects morbidity and mortality in the society. Reports indicated that PBP decreased in many western countries. The associations between the main cardiovascular risk factors and the changing PBP have been described. The aim of this study was to investigate association between income factors and trends in population BP and hypertension. Copenhagen City Heart Study is a prospective longitudinal epidemiological study on almost 20000 individuals through four surveys from 1976 to 2003. The BP measurement was fully standardised. Questionnaires on household income and CV risk factors were completed by the participants. After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors there were no significant differences in systolic BP (SBP) trend associated to income among men. Among women, however, there was a reverse relationship between SBP and income. In addition, there was a trend towards a lowering of risk-factor adjusted SBP in the high income women with time. The mechanism that lies behind the associations between trend in SBP and income is not known but data suggest that poor lifestyle may explain some of the differences. The treated hypertensives are treated without income associated treatment differences. IN CONCLUSION: Women in higher income groups have lower SBP than women in low-income groups and the gap between SBP in high-income women and low-income women increased with time. There were no significant differences in SBP-trend associated to income among men. Results in treating hypertension did not differ between the income groups.

Decreasing systolic blood pressure and declining mortality rates in an untreated population: results from the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate developments in 30 years mortality risk that may be associated with developments in population systolic blood pressure (SBP) and to evaluate possible secular trends in BP-associated mortality risk in the untreated population. DESIGN: The Copenhagen City Heart Study is a prospective longitudinal epidemiological study. The present analysis comprised participants from survey 1 (1976-78) and 3 (1991-94). METHODS: BP measurements and other methods were fully standardized and unchanged throughout the observation period. Questionnaires were completed by the participants and double checked by the technicians while they were interviewing the participants. RESULTS: 18 077 persons participated. Age, systolic BP, diastolic BP, cholesterol, BMI, diabetes, gender and habitual physical activity were significant predictors of all-cause death in all age groups. Risk factor adjusted risk for all-cause death was significantly lower in survey 3 compared with survey 1. Among elderly people, there was no development in mortality risk. In the age groups 40-49 years and 50-59 years there were survey differences indicating a significant trend towards longer life expectancy compared with their age-matched counterparts in survey 1. The association between BP and mortality remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: A declining risk of all-cause death was observed in the younger and middle-aged cohorts of the population. The decrease in systolic BP and decline in mortality risk in the same age groups points to a role of systolic BP in age-cohort differentiated improvements of life expectancy. The effect of systolic BP on mortality did not change during follow-up.

Trends and determinant factors in hypertension control in a population study with 25 years of follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The present study focused on trend in hypertension control and on determinant factors that may influence efficacy in antihypertensive therapy. Two measures of treatment efficacy were used: population blood pressure and the relative frequency of effectively treated patients (blood pressure <140/90 mmHg). DESIGN AND METHODS: Copenhagen City Heart Study is a prospective longitudinal epidemiological study with 25 years of follow-up. The study population were treated hypertensive patients. The blood pressure measurement was fully standardized and measurement method was unchanged throughout the observation period. A questionnaire was completed by the participants and double-checked by the technicians. RESULTS: The number of treated hypertensive patients increased considerably and hypertension control increased from 21 to 26%. Pretreatment SBP was stable in the observation period indicating that start-to-treat practice was stable. Treated SBP decreased from 157.9 to 148.7 mmHg. Four determinant factors were significant. Men presented a higher pretreatment SBP before starting antihypertensive medication. Elderly patients presented a higher pretreatment SBP and were poorly treated as compared with younger hypertensive patients. Obesity was associated with a high threshold SBP. The fourth factor was diagnosis. Patients with myocardial infarction were better treated in last surveys than patients from other diagnosis groups. Treated DBP was stable. CONCLUSION: Hypertension treatment efficacy is improving but still far from acceptable. The evaluation of determinant factors identified four areas that need special attention: men, elderly and obese hypertensive patients. The fourth factor is diagnosis. The results may indicate a beneficial effect of systematic control of hypertensive patients during a limited time after a myocardial infarction.