(HealthDay News) — 17 million American adults may have masked hypertension, according to a study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
A team led by Joseph Schwartz, PhD, of Stony Brook University in New York, analyzed its own database as well as data from a national US government survey on nutrition and health.
Based on the analysis, the researchers estimated that 12.3% of Americans over the age of 21 have masked hypertension. That translates into about 1 in every 8 people — or 17.1 million Americans, Schwartz’s team said. Masked hypertension was typically more common among males than females. Having diabetes raised the odds for the condition, and so did advancing age.
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“To our knowledge, this study provides the first estimate of US masked hypertension prevalence — nearly 1 in 8 adults with nonelevated clinic blood pressure — and suggests that millions of US adults may be misclassified as not having hypertension,” the authors write.
Reference
- Wang YC, Shimbo D, Muntner P, et al. Prevalence of Masked Hypertension Among US Adults With Nonelevated Clinic Blood Pressure. Am J Epidemiol. 18 January 2017. doi: 10.1093/aje/kww237.
