Abstract
Arterial hypertension represents a serious medical, social and economic problem in Poland. Owing to a small number of studies concerning HT epidemiology in Poland and large differences in methodology, it is difficult to make an objective verification of the changes regarding principal parameters in our country within the last decade. Important programme for the assessment of the situation in our country is NATPOL PLUS, carried out in the year 2002 on a representative sample of 3051 adult Polish residents aged between 18 and 93 years, using the current diagnostic criteria for arterial hypertension (blood pressure readings obtained at three separate visits in cases of newly detected HT, different cuff sizes for different arm circumference, age range 18–93 years, rejection of first measurement during initial screening visit). Prevalence of HT in Poland is 29%, awareness—67%, and effectiveness of treatment—12%. This means that while HT affects about 8.4 million adult Poles, only 1 million of them get effective treatment. Moreover, as much as 8.7 million Poles have high normal blood pressure and they should apply active prevention. The awareness, detection and control of hypertension is much worse in men than in women. A series of NATPOL studies indicated over the period 1994–2002 a significant and rapid decrease in the awareness of one's own blood pressure among the adult Polish population, especially in small towns and villages, among less educated people, and in males.
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Acknowledgements
The NATPOL PLUS project was prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Health from the funds of the National Stroke Prevention and Treatment Program and with the support of the following sponsors: Polpharma, MSD, Polfa Kutno and Dade Behring. The NATPOL PLUS project was carried out under the auspices of the Minister of Health, Rector of the Medical University in Gdañsk, the boards of the Polish Society of Cardiolology, Polish Society of Hypertension, Polish Diabetes Society, Polish Society on Atherosclerosis Research, and with the endorsement of the European Society of Cardiology and the Joint European Societies Cardiovascular Prevention Committee.
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Zdrojewski, T., Szpakowski, P., Bandosz, P. et al. Arterial hypertension in Poland in 2002. J Hum Hypertens 18, 557–562 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001739
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001739
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