Cardiovascular risk and blood pressure control in a Spanish hypertensive population attended in a Primary Care

Gustavo C Rodriguez-Roca1, Jose L Llisterri-Caro, Vivencio Barrios-Alonso

  • 1Health Care Centre, La Puebla de Montalban, Toledo, Spain. grodriguezr@semergen.es

Blood Pressure
|May 21, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Hypertension management is crucial, as over half of patients in primary care face high cardiovascular risk. Poor blood pressure control is common in these individuals, with diabetes significantly increasing this risk.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Primary Health Care
  • Hypertension Management

Background:

  • Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality globally.
  • Effective management of hypertension is key to reducing cardiovascular events.
  • Risk stratification is essential for tailoring treatment strategies in hypertensive patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the cardiovascular risk profile of a large hypertensive patient cohort.
  • To assess blood pressure control rates across different cardiovascular risk categories.
  • To identify factors associated with inadequate blood pressure control in high-risk hypertensive patients.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional analysis of 10,520 adult hypertensive patients from primary care.
  • Categorization of patients into cardiovascular risk strata (average, low, moderate, high, very high added risk).
  • Statistical analysis to determine blood pressure control rates and associated factors, including odds ratios for poor control.

Main Results:

  • Over half of the hypertensive cohort (51.9%) presented with high or very high added cardiovascular risk.
  • Overall blood pressure control was achieved in only 41.4% of patients.
  • Blood pressure control rates were significantly lower in higher risk categories (e.g., 6.8% in very high risk).
  • Diabetes was strongly associated with poor blood pressure control in high/very high-risk groups (OR=7.2, p<0.0001).

Conclusions:

  • A substantial proportion of hypertensive patients in primary care are at high cardiovascular risk.
  • Inadequate blood pressure control is prevalent, particularly in high-risk individuals.
  • Diabetes is a critical factor exacerbating poor blood pressure control in hypertensive patients with elevated cardiovascular risk.
Abstract

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