Abstract
Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. In this study we assessed the excess of cardiovascular risk attributable to high BP and antihypertensive treatment in a sample of Italian patients enrolled by the 'Cholesterol and Health: Education, Control and Knowledge' (CHECK) study. Methods: CHECK is a large, cross-sectional epidemiological study, which randomly enrolled patients aged 40-79 years from 425 Italian General Practices from March 2002 to April 2004. Among 5731 patients enrolled in the study [49.6% men, mean age (standard deviation) 57.7 (10.3) years], 723 (12.6%) had 'optimal' BP, 1496 (26.1%) had 'high normal' BP, and 1942 (33.9%) were hypertensive. Results: According to the European Guidelines stratification of the cardiovascular risk-excess attributable to high BP, 34.7% of the sample had a low added risk and 53.2% had a moderate-to-very high added risk. The pharmacological therapy was prescribed in 22.3, 43.9, 61.4, and 76.9% of the patients with low, moderate, high, and very high added risk, respectively. Conclusion: Overall dietary and drug therapies are under prescribed, as most of the treated patients would require two additional antihypertensive drugs to meet the recommended BP target. This effort could provide significant individual benefit to moderate/high-risk patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 562-568 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2010 |
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Keywords
- Antihypertensive therapy
- blood pressure
- cardiovascular risk
- epidemiology
- primary care
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
- Epidemiology
Cite this
Blood pressure and antihypertensive therapy according to the global cardiovascular risk level in Italy : The CHECK Study. / Filippi, Alessandro; Casula, Manuela; Tragni, Elena; Brignoli, Ovidio; Cricelli, Claudio; Poli, Andrea; Catapano, Alberico Luigi.
In: European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, Vol. 17, No. 5, 10.2010, p. 562-568.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Blood pressure and antihypertensive therapy according to the global cardiovascular risk level in Italy
T2 - The CHECK Study
AU - Filippi, Alessandro
AU - Casula, Manuela
AU - Tragni, Elena
AU - Brignoli, Ovidio
AU - Cricelli, Claudio
AU - Poli, Andrea
AU - Catapano, Alberico Luigi
PY - 2010/10
Y1 - 2010/10
N2 - Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. In this study we assessed the excess of cardiovascular risk attributable to high BP and antihypertensive treatment in a sample of Italian patients enrolled by the 'Cholesterol and Health: Education, Control and Knowledge' (CHECK) study. Methods: CHECK is a large, cross-sectional epidemiological study, which randomly enrolled patients aged 40-79 years from 425 Italian General Practices from March 2002 to April 2004. Among 5731 patients enrolled in the study [49.6% men, mean age (standard deviation) 57.7 (10.3) years], 723 (12.6%) had 'optimal' BP, 1496 (26.1%) had 'high normal' BP, and 1942 (33.9%) were hypertensive. Results: According to the European Guidelines stratification of the cardiovascular risk-excess attributable to high BP, 34.7% of the sample had a low added risk and 53.2% had a moderate-to-very high added risk. The pharmacological therapy was prescribed in 22.3, 43.9, 61.4, and 76.9% of the patients with low, moderate, high, and very high added risk, respectively. Conclusion: Overall dietary and drug therapies are under prescribed, as most of the treated patients would require two additional antihypertensive drugs to meet the recommended BP target. This effort could provide significant individual benefit to moderate/high-risk patients.
AB - Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. In this study we assessed the excess of cardiovascular risk attributable to high BP and antihypertensive treatment in a sample of Italian patients enrolled by the 'Cholesterol and Health: Education, Control and Knowledge' (CHECK) study. Methods: CHECK is a large, cross-sectional epidemiological study, which randomly enrolled patients aged 40-79 years from 425 Italian General Practices from March 2002 to April 2004. Among 5731 patients enrolled in the study [49.6% men, mean age (standard deviation) 57.7 (10.3) years], 723 (12.6%) had 'optimal' BP, 1496 (26.1%) had 'high normal' BP, and 1942 (33.9%) were hypertensive. Results: According to the European Guidelines stratification of the cardiovascular risk-excess attributable to high BP, 34.7% of the sample had a low added risk and 53.2% had a moderate-to-very high added risk. The pharmacological therapy was prescribed in 22.3, 43.9, 61.4, and 76.9% of the patients with low, moderate, high, and very high added risk, respectively. Conclusion: Overall dietary and drug therapies are under prescribed, as most of the treated patients would require two additional antihypertensive drugs to meet the recommended BP target. This effort could provide significant individual benefit to moderate/high-risk patients.
KW - Antihypertensive therapy
KW - blood pressure
KW - cardiovascular risk
KW - epidemiology
KW - primary care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78049297892&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78049297892&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/HJR.0b013e328338a4c6
DO - 10.1097/HJR.0b013e328338a4c6
M3 - Article
C2 - 20308908
AN - SCOPUS:78049297892
VL - 17
SP - 562
EP - 568
JO - European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation
JF - European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation
SN - 1741-8267
IS - 5
ER -