Blood pressure measurement in an Australian population

A postal survey of a random sample of 1200 persons who lived in the Hunter Region of New South Wales was undertaken in order to determine their experiences of blood pressure measurement and treatment for hypertension. The corrected response rate was 89%. Ninety per cent of the 962 respondents had visited a doctor in the previous year and 69% of them reported a blood pressure measurement at their last visit. Eighty-nine per cent of the 962 respondents reported that they had undergone a blood pressure measurement in the past three years. Although 79% of the respondents reported a blood pressure measurement in the past year, only 59% of men who were aged 45 years or less had experienced such a measurement during that period. Women were more likely than were men to have had their blood pressure measured and to report a knowledge of and treatment for hypertension. As these findings suggest that a large proportion of the population has experienced a blood pressure measurement in the past three years, it appears that most of the hypertension in the community has already been detected. The value of blood pressure screening is questioned, although it would appear that a need remains for an improvement in the detection of hypertension in men under 45 years of age. The prevalence of hypertension in the community remains high in spite of the degree of attention that is paid to it by the medical profession. It is imperative to explore the possibilities for the primary prevention of hypertension.