The researchers also found that "Together, prehypertension and residual hypertension accounted for 4.7 percent of hospital admissions per 10,000 adults aged 25 to 74 years, 9.7 percent of nursing home admissions, and 13.7 percent of deaths. Prehypertension alone accounted for 3.4 percent of hospitalizations, 6.5 percent of nursing home stays, and 9.1 percent of deaths," the authors write.
"Our results confirm the substantial public health consequences of prehypertension," the researchers conclude. "If prehypertension were eliminated, hospitalizations, nursing home admissions, and premature deaths could decline substantially."
(Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:2119-2124. Available post-embargo at archinternmed.com)
Editor's Note: Development of the simulation model used for this study was supported in part by grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Md.
Editorial: Today's Agenda: We Must Focus on Achieving Favorable Levels of All Risk Factors Simultaneously
In an accompanying editorial, Martha L. Daviglus, M.D., Ph.D., and Kiang Liu, Ph.D., of the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago write, "In this issue of the ARCHIVES, Greenlund et al and Russell et al report findings and projections from national samples on the consequences of prehypertension. Greenlund and colleagues find that approximately one third of adult Americans have prehypertension and that this adverse blood pressure level is accompanied by unfavorable levels of other major cardiovascular disease risk factors."
"Not unexpectedly, Russell et al, using a statistical model relating coronary heart disease risk factor levels to rates of hospitalization, nursing home confinement, and death in U.S. adults aged 25 to 74 years, estimate that elimination of prehypertension and residual hypertension would result in noticeable percent decreases in
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Contact: Steve Manas
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JAMA and Archives Journals
25-Oct-2004