Korean Circ J.  2022 May;52(5):382-392. 10.4070/kcj.2021.0347.

Sex-Specific Trends in the Prevalence of Hypertension and the Number of People With Hypertension: Analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 1998–2018

• Seo E
• Jung S
• Lee H
• Kim HC

• KMID: 2529870
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2021.0347

Abstract

Background and Objectives
As the Korean population ages fast, it is estimated that the people with hypertension, especially female patients, will increase rapidly. However, there are few data comparing the size of female and male hypertensive patients in the Korean population. Thus we assessed sex-specific trends in the prevalence and the number of people with hypertension.
Methods
We analyzed data for 128,949 adults aged ≥20 years with valid blood pressure measurements from the 1998 to 2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The prevalence and the absolute number of hypertension were estimated with taking into the sampling weights separately for women and men.
Results
Overall prevalence of hypertension is higher in men than in women. But, in older adults, women show higher prevalence and the number of people with hypertension. Between 1998 and 2018, prevalence of hypertension increased from 61.8% to 65.9% in elderly (age 65+) women, and from 49.0% to 59.4% in elderly men. During the same period, the number of elderly women with hypertension increased from 1.18 to 2.70 million, while the number of elderly men with hypertension increased from 0.57 to 1.78 million. Among hypertensive patients, undiagnosed hypertension and diagnosed-but-untreated hypertension were more common in men, while treated-but-uncontrolled hypertension were more common in women.
Conclusion
The fast-growing number of elderly women with hypertension will be an important public health challenge for the Korean society to solve in order to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

Keyword

Hypertension; Women; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Korea

Figure

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  Figure 1 Trends in the number of women and men with hypertension by three age groups.

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  Figure 2 Trends in hypertension management status in men and women.

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  Figure 3 The prevalence and estimated number of patients with hypertension.KNHANES = Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

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