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Epidemiologic Implications of the 2025 Hypertension Canada Guideline on Hypertension Prevalence, Treatment, and
Victoria Ivensky1, Gregory L Hundemer2, Alexander A Leung3
1Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, CIUSSS-du-Nord-de-l'île-de-Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Background:
In 2025, Hypertension Canada published a new guideline for the management of hypertension in primary care. Key changes included the adoption of lower blood pressure (BP) thresholds for hypertension diagnosis, treatment initiation, and treatment target. This study sought to evaluate the potential epidemiological effects of the 2025 Hypertension Canada guideline and its implications for Canadian adults.
Methods:
Using data from the population-based CARTaGENE cohort, we compared how transitioning from the 2020 to the 2025 Hypertension Canada guideline recommendations could affect hypertension prevalence, indications for antihypertensive treatment, and BP control rates.
Results:
We included 16,825 participants in the study. Implementation of the 2025 Hypertension Canada guideline increased the number of individuals with hypertension from 7005 (41.6%) to 8564 (50.9%; 95% confidence interval, 50.2%-51.6%), primarily affecting younger participants and those at low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk. For these individuals, initial nonpharmacological management focused on lifestyle optimization would be recommended. The need for antihypertensive treatment initiation increased by only 1.3% (95% confidence interval, 0.3%-2.4%) and predominantly concerned individuals at high cardiovascular risk. Among treated participants, BP control rates decreased by 8.7% in the low-to-moderate risk group and increased by 9.9% in the high-risk group.
Conclusions:
Adoption of the 2025 Hypertension Canada guideline will substantially increase the prevalence of hypertension among 40- to 69-year-old Canadians. Nonpharmacological interventions are recommended for all individuals; however, new antihypertensive pharmacotherapy would be recommended for only a small subset, largely limited to those at high cardiovascular risk.
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