More effort required to control BP in Type 2 diabetes

12 June 2009

MedWire News: The proportion of diabetic patients with controlled blood pressure (BP) nearly doubled between 1988 and 2004, but was still only around 30% in 2004, a US population based study has revealed.

Therefore, “aggressive public health efforts are needed to improve BP control in Type 2 diabetic patients with hypertension,” say the study authors.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) III (1988–1994) and NHANES 1999–2004, Dong-Churl Suh (Rutgers University School of Pharmacy, Piscataway, New Jersey) and colleagues carried out a study to examine trends in the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes patients with comorbid hypertension in the USA, assess BP control rates, and determine factors associated with controlled BP in these patients.

The researchers identified all Type 2 diabetes patients aged 30 years or older who were taking insulin or oral antidiabetic drugs to manage the condition and found that age-adjusted overall prevalence of diabetes increased significantly from 5.8% during NHANES III to 7.1% during NHANES 1994–2004.

Similar trends were observed in the Type 2 diabetic patients with a diagnosis of hypertension based on physician diagnosis, treatment with antihypertensive medications, or a BP of at least 140/90 mmHg. In this group, the age adjusted prevalence increased significantly from 3.9% to 4.7% during the observation period.

Among diabetic patients with hypertension, the number of patients who were treated with medication or lifestyle modification therapy increased significantly from 76.5 to 87.8%. In line with this increase, the proportion of patients who achieved the target BP of less than 130/80 mmHg also increased significantly from 15.9 to 29.6%, but the remaining over 70.0% of patients still did not have control of their BP.

“The prevalence of diabetic patients with uncontrolled hypertension is still high and remains an important public health concern in the US because uncontrolled BP in patients with Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and the resultant complications greatly increase the country’s economic burden,” conclude Suh et al in the Journal of Hypertension.

MedWire is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009

J Hypertens 2009; Advance online publication