Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the Czech Republic. Results of two nationwide cross-sectional surveys in 1997/1998 and 2000/2001, Czech Post-MONICA Study

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 18, pages 571–579 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Hypertension is an easily diagnosed and eminently modifiable risk factor for the development of all clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis. Despite the availability of a simple, non-invasive, and rather accurate method of measuring blood pressure (BP), and overwhelming evidence that reducing BP effectively prevents cardiovascular events, hypertension at the population level is not managed optimally. In 1997/1998 and 2000/2001, two surveys for cardiovascular risk factors were conducted in nine districts of the Czech Republic, involving a 1% population random sample aged 25–64 years in each district. In concordance with the MONICA Project, the present study confirms a high prevalence of hypertension in the Czech population, detecting an increase in prevalence for the male population over a period of 3 years (males from 38.8 in 1997/1998 to 42.3 in 2000/2001; P<0.05). Within the same period, there is also a significant increase in the awareness of hypertension in males (from 57.3 in 1997/1998 to 60.0 in 2000/2001; P<0.05), and an increase in the number of male hypertensives being treated by antihypertensive drugs (from 30.9 to 44.3; P<0.05). Control of hypertension did not change in either sex, being still suboptimal (males 16.4%, females 25.4% in the last survey in 2000/2001).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. European Cardiovascular Disease Statistics. British Heart Foundation: London; 2000.

  2. 2001 Statistical Yearbook of the Czech Republic. Scientia: Prague, Czech Republic; 2001.

  3. Kannel WB . Blood pressure as a cardiovascular risk factor: prevention and treatment. JAMA 1996; 275: 1571–1576.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Strasser T . Hypertension: the East European experience. Am J Hypertens 1998; 11: 756–758.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. The sixth report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VI). Arch Intern Med 1997; 157: 2413–2446.

  6. Winkleby MA, Fortman SP, Barrett DC . Social class disparities in risk factors for disease: eight-year prevalence patterns by level of education. Prev Med 1990; 19: 1–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bobák M et al. Socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors in the Czech Republic. Int J Epidemiol 1999; 28: 46–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kannel WB et al. The relation of adiposity to blood pressure and development of hypertension: the Framingham study. Ann Intern Med 1967; 67: 48–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. WHO MONICA Project/Keil U, Kuulasmaa K . WHO MONICA Project: risk factors. Intl J Epidemiol 1989; 18 (Suppl 1): S46–S55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kuulasmaa K, et al, for the WHO MONICA Project. Estimation of contribution of changes in classic risk factors to trends in coronary-event rates across the WHO MONICA Project populations. Lancet 2000; 355: 675–687.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Elliott P et al. Intersalt revisited: further analyses of 24-hour sodium excretion and blood pressure within and across populations. BMJ 1996; 312: 1249–1253.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Law MR, Frost CD, Wald NJ . By how much does dietary salt reduction lower blood pressure? III Analysis of data from trials of salt reduction. BMJ 1991; 302: 819–824.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Culter JA, Follmann D, Alender PS . Randomized trials of sodium reduction: an overview. Am J Clin Nutr 1997; 65 (2 Suppl): 643S–651S.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Midgley JP et al. Effect of reduced dietary sodium on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JAMA 1996; 275: 1590–1597.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Whelton PK et al. Sodium reduction and weight loss in the treatment of hypertension in older persons. A randomized controlled trial of nonpharmacologic interventions in the elderly [TONE]. JAMA 1998; 279: 839–846.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Sacks FM, et al, for the DASH-sodium collaborative research group. N Eng J Med 2001; 344: 3–10.

  17. 1999 World Health Organization-International Society of Hypertension guidelines for the management of hypertension. J Hypertens 1999; 17: 151–183.

  18. Rayner M, Petersen S . European Cardiovascular Disease Statistics. British Heart Foundation: London. 2000. www.heartstats.org.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Puddey IB, Beilin LJ, Rakic V . Alcohol, hypertension and the cardiovascular system: a critical appraisal. Addiction Biol 1997; 2: 159–170.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Arkwright PD et al. Effects of alcohol use and other aspects of life-style on blood pressure levels and prevalence of hypertension in a working population. Circulation 1982; 66: 60–66.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Moreira LB et al. Alcohol intake and blood pressure: the importance of time elapsed since last drink. J Hypertens 1998; 16: 175–180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Klatsky A et al. Alcohol consumption and blood pressure Kaiser-Permanente Multiphasic Health Examination Data. N Engl J Med 1977; 296: 1194–1200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Škodová Z et al. Long-term development and current status of the smoking habits of the Czech population (in Czech, summary in English). Cor Vasa 2002; 44: 81–86.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Wilber JA, Barrow JG . Hypertension—a community problem. Am J Med 1972; 52 (5): 653–663.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Wilhelmsen L, Berglund G, Werko L . Prevalence and management of hypertension in a general population sample of Swedish men. Prev Med 1973; 1: 57–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Prineas RJ, Stephens WB, Lovell RR . Prevalence of hypertension and its treatment in an Australian community: implications for screening. Singapore Med J 1973; 14 (3): 429–432.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Burt VL et al. Trends in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in the adult US population. Data from the health examination surveys, 1960 to 1991. Hypertension 1995; 26: 60–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Marques-Vidal P, Tuomilehto J . Hypertension awareness, treatment and control in the community: is the ‘rule of halves’ still valid? J Hum Hypertens 1997; 11 (4): 213–220.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Erdine S . How well is hypertension controlled in Europe? J Hypertens 2000; 18: 1348–1350.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Joffres MR et al. Awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Canada. Am J Hypertens 1997; 10: 1097–1102.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Oliveria SA et al. Physician-related barriers to the effective management of uncontrolled hypertension. Arch Intern Med 2002; 162: 413–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. He J, Whelton PK . Elevated systolic blood pressure as a risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease. J Hypertens 1999; 17 (Suppl 2): S7–S13.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Izzo JL, Levy D, Black HR . Importance of systolic blood pressure in older Americans. Hypertension 2000; 35: 1021–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Hansson L, et al, on behalf of the HOT Study Group. Effects of intensive blood pressure lowering and low-dose aspirin in patients with hypertension: principal results of the hypertension optimal treatment (HOT) randomised trial. Lancet 1998; 351: 1755–1762.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Fagard RH et al. Survey on treatment of hypertension and implementation of WHO/ISH risk stratification in primary care in Belgium. J Hypertens 2002; 20: 1297–1302.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Miller NH et al. The multilevel compliance challenge: recommendations for a call to action: a statement for healthcare professionals. Circulation 1997; 95: 1085–1090.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Grant No. CEZ: L 17/98.000 23 001 awarded by the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Cardiology, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

    R Cífková, Z Škodová, V Adámková, E Novozámská, M Jozífová, M Plášková, Z Hejl, Z Petržílková, M Galovcová & D Palouš

  2. Statistics Unit, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

    V Lánská

Authors
  1. R Cífková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Z Škodová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. V Lánská
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. V Adámková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. E Novozámská
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M Jozífová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M Plášková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Z Hejl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Z Petržílková
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. M Galovcová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. D Palouš
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Cífková.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cífková, R., Škodová, Z., Lánská, V. et al. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the Czech Republic. Results of two nationwide cross-sectional surveys in 1997/1998 and 2000/2001, Czech Post-MONICA Study. J Hum Hypertens 18, 571–579 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001686

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001686

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links