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. 2025 Apr 1:53:103055.
doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2025.103055. eCollection 2025 May.

Twenty years population-based trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in Geneva, Switzerland

Mayssam Nehme  1   2 , Anshu Uppal  1 , Ophelia Zimmerman  1 , Julien Lamour  1 , Shannon Mechoullam  1 , Idris Guessous  1   2
Affiliations

Twenty years population-based trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in Geneva, Switzerland

Mayssam Nehme et al. Prev Med Rep. .

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and affects about 1.3 billion adults worldwide. Despite interventions, awareness and control remain suboptimal and might have worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This population-based study examines 20-year trends in hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control in Geneva, Switzerland (2005-2023).

Methods: This is a year-trends population-based study (Bus Sante) ongoing in Geneva, Switzerland. Data collected in this study were between 2005 and 2023. Hypertension trends and prevalence were stratified by sex, age, education, and income. Multivariable regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and health factors identified determinants of outcomes.

Results: Overall, 11,278 individuals participated. Hypertension prevalence decreased from 38.9 % to 35.2 %, with greater reductions in individuals with primary education (-6.1 %) and low income (-6.1 %). Awareness remained stable with time. Uncontrolled hypertension decreased (44.9 % to 42.2 %, p = 0.01), with improvements in lower socioeconomic groups, and individuals with diabetes. Older women were more likely to have untreated (+16.1 %) and uncontrolled hypertension, while younger men exhibited higher unawareness rates (57.7 %). Having a doctor visit in the past 12 months was not associated with increased awareness.

Conclusions: Hypertension prevalence and control improved overall, with reduced socioeconomic disparities. However, some groups remain at risk and primary care is essential for better screening, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension.

Keywords: Awareness; Cardiovascular disease; Epidemiology; Hypertension; Prevalence; Primary care; Risk factors; Year-trends study.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of age and sex-standardized prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in adult participants of the Bus Sante study in Geneva, Switzerland, between 2005 and 2023 (n = 11,278).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control by determinants, in adult participants of the Bus Sante study in Geneva, Switzerland, between 2005 and 2014 and 2015–2023 (n = 11,278).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of mean blood pressure stratified by awareness and treatment in adult participants with hypertension of the Bus Sante study in Geneva, Switzerland between 2005 and 2023 (n = 3753).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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