TUESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Concomitant hypertension and hypercholesterolemia control have improved from 1988-1994 to 2005-2010, according to research published in the July 2 issue of Circulation.
Brent M. Egan, M.D., from the University of South Carolina in Charleston, and colleagues assessed concurrent hypertension and hypercholesterolemia control using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2004, and 2005 to 2010. Hypertension was defined by blood pressure ≥140/≥90 mm Hg, current medication treatment, and two-told hypertension status. Controlled blood pressure was defined as <140/<90 mm Hg. Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to define hypercholesterolemia based on 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
The researchers found that, across surveys, 60.7 to 64.3 percent of patients with hypertension also had hypercholesterolemia. Control of LDL-C rose from 1988-1994 to 2005-2010 (odds ratio [OR], 9.2 to 45.4 percent), as did concomitant hypertension and LDL-C (OR, 5.0 to 30.7 percent) and combined hypertension, LDL-C, and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR, 1.8 to 26.9 percent). Characteristics associated with concomitant hypertension, LDL-C, and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol control included statin (OR, 10.7) and antihypertensive (OR, 3.32) medications, age (OR, 0.77), at least two health care visits/year (OR, 1.96), black race (OR, 0.59), Hispanic ethnicity (OR, 0.62), cardiovascular disease (OR, 0.44), and diabetes mellitus (OR, 0.54).
"Prescribing antihypertensive and antihyperlipidemic medications to achieve treatment goals, especially for older, minority, diabetic, and cardiovascular disease patients, and accessing health care at least biannually could improve concurrent risk factor control and CHD prevention," the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
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