LACK OF EFFECTIVE BLOOD-PRESSURE CONTROL AMONG AN ELDER HYPERTENSIVE POPULATION IN BUENOS-AIRES

Our purpose was to determine the level of awareness, treatment, and co ntrol of hypertension in a population of subjects aged 65 or more. We studied a random sample from the national health care program in Bueno s Aires. Letters were mailed to 1000 selected individuals. Among those eligible, 41.4% (n = 414) were enrolled. The mean age was 73.8 years and 68% were women. Prevalence of hypertension in our sample was 77.5% (n = 321). Awareness of hypertension was 60.7% (n = 195). Fifty-four percent (n = 173) of the hypertensive subjects were receiving pharmaco logic treatment and only 18.5% (n = 32) of them were controlled. These results show that there is a low level of awareness, pharmacologic tr eatment, and control of hypertension in the studied elderly subjects. Am J Hypertens 1998;11:1024-1027 (C) 1998 American Journal of Hyperten sion, Ltd.