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High incidence of hypertension in middle-aged French adults in the late 1990s

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 22, pages 211–213 (2008)Cite this article

In a cohort of 4059 healthy volunteers (age range: 45–64 years) enrolled throughout the French metropolitan territory and followed between 1996 and 2001 (mean follow-up=5.4±0.3 years), the prevalence of hypertension at baseline (42.4% in men and 24.6% in women) and the percentage of hypertensive individuals taking antihypertensive medication (19.9% in men and 34.9% in women) were low compared to the figures observed in randomly selected individuals. Likewise, the percentages of controlled individuals among treated or hypertensive individuals (33.3 and 6.6% in men, and 62.3 and 21.8% in women) were high, as expected from lower exposure of volunteers to hypertension risk factors. However, the incidence of hypertension during follow-up (35.0% in men and 26.6% in women) was unexpectedly high compared to the figures observed in randomly selected individuals from other Caucasian populations.

The information describing the burden of hypertension in France in the last 15 years is dispersed with no data collected yet from a nationally representative population sample. Among the few available studies, the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) project that compiled data from 41 populations in 22 countries worldwide suggested that the prevalence, treatment and control of hypertension in middle-aged French adults were about average.1 Data on the incidence of hypertension in the French population are even scarcer despite the fact that it is a critical parameter for assessing the impact of the disease independently of the mortality rate and demographic changes. In the last 15 years, only one study has been performed in subjects enrolled by occupational physicians in different workplaces between 1997 and 1999.2 It has reported a very high incidence rate compared to those habitually seen in other Caucasian populations. To confirm this observation, the prevalence, treatment, control and incidence of hypertension were investigated in the late 1990s in a French cohort of middle-aged healthy volunteers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM U872, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France

    P Meneton

  2. Département de Santé Publique et d'Informatique Médicale, Université René Descartes, Paris, France

    D Heudes & J Ménard

  3. INSERM U557/INRA U1125/CNAM/Paris 13 SMBH et Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine d'Ile-de-France, Bobigny, France

    S Bertrais, S Czernichow, P Galan & S Hercberg

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  1. P Meneton
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  2. D Heudes
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  3. S Bertrais
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  4. S Czernichow
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  5. P Galan
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  6. S Hercberg
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  7. J Ménard
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Correspondence to P Meneton.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Human Hypertension website (http://www.nature.com/jhh)

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Meneton, P., Heudes, D., Bertrais, S. et al. High incidence of hypertension in middle-aged French adults in the late 1990s. J Hum Hypertens 22, 211–213 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002292

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