From Progress to Plateau: 50-Year Trends in Hypertension Prevalence and Salt Intake in the Finnish Population

We examined 50-year time trends in hypertension prevalence and salt intake in Finland to evaluate the impact of public health interventions and inform future strategies for salt reduction and hypertension prevention.

Twelve cross-sectional health examination surveys conducted in Finland between 1972 and 2023 included 77 418 randomly selected adults aged 25 to 64 years, with blood pressure measured in all participants and 24-hour urine samples collected from a subsample of 5035 individuals. Year-to-year changes in the prevalence of hypertension and mean salt intake were assessed using age-adjusted logistic regression, with the previous adjacent survey year as the reference for each year.

Hypertension prevalence (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg or current use of antihypertensive medication) declined in men from 1972 to 2002 and in women until 1997, after which reductions slowed, with 2023 rates remaining high (42.6% in men, 31.8% in women). Mean salt intake decreased until the early 2000s (men: from 13.9-9.7 g/d; women: from 11.1-7.6 g/d) but plateaued thereafter, remaining above recommended levels in 2023 (men: 10.3 g/d; women: 7.6 g/d).

The previously declining trend in hypertension prevalence in Finland has plateaued over the last 2 decades, coinciding with persistently high salt intake remaining largely unchanged throughout the 21st century. Actions aimed at enhancing hypertension prevention and reducing population salt intake should therefore be reintroduced into Finland's public health discourse.