Hypertension in Adults Across Age Groups—Reply
- Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM
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dlj@northwestern.edu
Department of Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Ill
- Jane C. Evans, DSc;
- Daniel Levy, MD
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Framingham Heart Study
Framingham, Mass
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DISEASE MANAGEMENT
- ELDERLY
- HYPERTENSION
In Reply: Drs Berlowitz and Cushman and Mr Glassman are correct in pointing out that improvements were made in blood pressure control among some subgroups during the decade of the 1990s; the VA experience that they cite is a remarkable example. Major systematic efforts were required to achieve these impressive results. Unfortunately, the success of the VA with regard to hypertension control was not mirrored in the community or in the nation as a whole during the 1990s. Data from the nationally representative NHANES samples reveal that, among all patients with hypertension, blood pressure control rates increased from approximately 25% between 1988 and 1991 to only 31% between 1999 and 2000.1 In the Framingham observational cohorts, using the same data set as in our article, we observed statistically significant increases in prevalence of blood pressure control (defined as blood pressure <140 mm Hg/<90 mm Hg) among all patients with …
