The prevalence of concomitant hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia in the general population

To study the joint prevalence of elevated blood pressure and raised total cholesterol in adult individuals and to estimate the multifactorial cardiovascular risk associated with this clustering.

Data were obtained through pooling of databases from large cross-sectional representative population-based studies carried out in Belgium. Prevalences of concurrent hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure > or =140/90 mm Hg and/or under antihypertensive treatment) and hypercholesterolaemia (total cholesterol > or =190 mg/dl and/or using lipid-lowering drugs) were determined as well as the proportion of high risk individuals (according to SCORE) in this particular subgroup.

In total, 16,300 men and 5075 women aged 35-74 years were included. The prevalences of hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia were, respectively, 41% and 84% in men and 31% and 82% in women. Both risk factors occurred simultaneously in 38% of men and 32% of women. In multivariate analysis, risk factor clustering was increasing with age and body mass index but appeared less prominent among smokers. Only 20% of all subjects having both risk factors were reaching a high multifactorial risk level of 5%.

The high prevalence of co-existing hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia further accentuates the need for adequate risk factor management in this substantial subgroup of our population especially in younger subjects.