Antihypertensive medication
bp_meds.RmdRandomized trials have demonstrated that antihypertensive medications lower blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Antihypertensive medication use in the overall US population
The percentage of US adults with hypertension that are taking blood pressure lowering medication increased from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010. However, the percentage has not increased from 2009-2010 through 2017-2020.
Antihypertensive medication use by gender
Among US adults with hypertension, women are more likely to take antihypertensive medication compared with men. However, there is a treatment gap with many women and men with hypertension not taking antihypertensive medication.
Antihypertensive medication use by age group
The percentage of US adults with hypertension that is taking antihypertensive medication is higher at older age. In 2017-2020, only about 1 in 5 US adults 18 to 44 years of age with hypertension was taking antihypertensive medication.
Antihypertensive medication use by race/ethnicity
Among US adults with hypertension, non-Hispanic Black adults are more likely to take antihypertensive medication compared with non-Hispanic White and Asian adults and Hispanic adults.
Antihypertensive medication use definition
For this analysis, our definition of antihypertensive medication use was:
Self-reported use of antihypertensive medication
Who is included in this analysis
There were 107,622 NHANES 1999-2000 to 2017-March 2020 participants. We restricted the the dataset to adults >=18 years of age. This exclusion was applied because statistics for BP levels and hypertension in children and adolescents are markedly different than for adults. We further restricted the population to participants who completed the in-home interview and study examination, with one or more SBP and DBP measurement, and who had data on self-reported antihypertensive medication use. Last, we restricted the sample to non-pregnant adults.
After these exclusions, a total of 54102 participants were included for the current analysis.
| Inclusion | Overall | 1999-2000 | 2001-2002 | 2003-2004 | 2005-2006 | 2007-2008 | 2009-2010 | 2011-2012 | 2013-2014 | 2015-2016 | 2017-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | 107622 | 9965 | 11039 | 10122 | 10348 | 10149 | 10537 | 9756 | 10175 | 9971 | 15560 |
| >=18 years old | 63041 | 5448 | 5993 | 5620 | 5563 | 6228 | 6527 | 5864 | 6113 | 5992 | 9693 |
| Completed interview and examination | 59799 | 4976 | 5592 | 5303 | 5334 | 5995 | 6360 | 5615 | 5924 | 5735 | 8965 |
| Had SBP and DBP measurements | 56286 | 4755 | 5251 | 4902 | 5028 | 5670 | 6053 | 5436 | 5700 | 5557 | 8024 |
| Had self-reported information on antihypertensive medication | 56035 | 4694 | 5184 | 4838 | 5015 | 5665 | 6043 | 5337 | 5694 | 5552 | 8013 |
| Not pregnant | 54084 | 4369 | 4822 | 4550 | 4633 | 5590 | 5945 | 5248 | 5588 | 5444 | 7895 |
Age adjustment
For age adjustment in this analysis, we set the age distribution for the standard population to represent US adults from 1999 to 2020: 26.4%, 43.5%, 17%, and 13.2% being 18 to 44, 45 to 64, 65 to 74, and 75+ years of age, respectively
Make your own results
You can find the online application where customized graphs can be made here: https://bcjaeger.shinyapps.io/nhanesShinyBP/