Hypertension Prevalence 22.7 Percent Among Young Adults

MONDAY, Sept. 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of hypertension is 22.7 percent among young adults aged 18 to 39 years and 5.4 percent among youth aged 8 to 19 years, according to two studies presented at the American Heart Association Hypertension 2024 Scientific Sessions, held from Sept. 5 to 8 in Chicago.

Thomas J. Alexander, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues examined hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control among young (18 to 39 years), middle-aged (40 to 64 years), and older adults (65 years and older) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017 to 2020. The researchers found that the prevalence of hypertension was 22.7 percent among young adults. Compared with middle-aged and older adults, young adults were more likely to be unaware or untreated versus controlled for hypertension. Compared with older adults, young adults with hypertension were more likely to be uninsured, to be food-insecure, and to have low income.

Ahlia Sekkarei, M.P.H., Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues provided nationally representative prevalence estimates of elevated blood pressure and hypertension in a sample of 2,600 youth aged 8 to 19 years using data from the 2017 to March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers found that the prevalence estimate was 8.7 percent for elevated blood pressure and 5.4 percent for hypertension. The estimates were higher among males and increased with age. The highest prevalence of hypertension was seen for youth with severe obesity.

"Knowledge of current national estimates could be valuable to help inform policies and programs to support cardiovascular health in youth," Sekkarie said in a statement.

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