Worsening Hypertension Awareness, Treatment, and Control Rates in Canadian Women Between 2007 and 2017

Abstract

Background: Hypertension continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disability. The objective of this study was to examine hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control for women and men in Canada over the last decade.

Methods: A nationally representative, cross-sectional study was conducted using the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2007-2017). Using blood pressure readings from each respondent, along with a self-reported history of high blood pressure and active medications, the rates of hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control were calculated for women and men.

Results: A total of 5,794,641 people were identified to have hypertension from 2007 to 2017, representing 23.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.9%-24.2%) of the Canadian adult population with no appreciable change in prevalence over the decade. Overall awareness, treatment, and control were 83.5% (95% CI, 81.5%-85.4%), 78.9% (95% CI, 76.2%-81.6%), and 65.4% (95% CI, 62.4%-68.4%), respectively, with no significant changes in men from 2007 to 2017. Conversely, in women, substantial deteriorations in awareness (72.2% [95% CI, 64.1%-80.2%] in 2016-2017 vs 85.0% [95% CI, 82.4%-87.7%] in 2007-2015), treatment (65.2% [95% CI, 57.6%-72.8%] vs 82.2% [95% CI, 79.4%-85.1%]), and control (49.2% [95% CI, 39.7%-58.7%] vs 67.0% [95% CI, 63.9%-70.1%]) were found.

Conclusions: After plateauing early in the 2000s, Canadian hypertension treatment and control rates have declined in the past decade, largely in women. Renewed collaborative efforts by key stakeholders are urgently needed to address this increase in preventable risk for cardiovascular disease.