Home Cardiology Almost One in Three Black Young Adults in U.S. Have Hypertension

Almost One in Three Black Young Adults in U.S. Have Hypertension

High prevalence rates accompanied by very low awareness and treatment rates

FRIDAY, Aug. 7, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Nearly one in three young non-Hispanic black adults and about one in five young Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white adults have hypertension, according to a study published in the July 1 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Vibhu Parcha, M.D., from University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005 to 2016) to evaluate the race-stratified trends for prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among 15,171 young U.S. adults aged 18 to 44 years.

The researchers found stable trends for the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in all racial groups. From 2013 to 2016, the prevalence was highest in non-Hispanic blacks (30.7 percent), followed by non-Hispanic whites (21.9 percent) and Mexican Americans (21.9 percent). From 2005 to 2008 through 2013 to 2016, the awareness was stable at around 43.2 percent in non-Hispanic blacks, 34.8 percent in non-Hispanic whites, and 28.4 percent in Mexican Americans, as were treatment rates at nearly 34.4 , 23.7, and 20.6 percent, respectively. The optimal control of hypertension from 2013 to 2016 was achieved in 14.5 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, 12.2 percent of non-Hispanic whites, and 10.3 percent of Mexican Americans.

“Our race-stratified analyses highlight the categorical need to improve the abysmal control of hypertension which is approximately one in 10 young adults,” the authors write.

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