Korean Circ J.  2015 Nov;45(6):492-499. 10.4070/kcj.2015.45.6.492.

Prevalence and Trends of Isolated Systolic Hypertension among Korean Adults: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1998-2012

• Kim NR
• Kim HC

• KMID: 2223788
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2015.45.6.492

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure may have different effects on cardiovascular disease, but limited data is available for hypertension subtypes in the Korean population. Thus, the prevalence, and absolute number of hypertension subtypes among Korean adults was estimated.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1998-2012 was used to estimate the prevalence and absolute number of each hypertension subtype among Korean adults aged > or =20 years. Hypertension was classified into four subtypes: treated hypertension (TH), isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH), and combined systolic and diastolic hypertension (SDH).
RESULTS
In 2012, approximately 9.5 million adults were estimated to have hypertension, which consists of 5675671 TH (60.0%), 954253 ISH (10.1%), 1649486 IDH (17.4%), and 1175506 SDH (12.4%). Between 2010 and 2012, the proportion of IDH steadily decreased with age, but ISH increased especially in older ages (> or =40). Between 1998 and 2012, TH markedly increased from 1.4 million to 5.7 million while the number of untreated hypertension remained relatively constant. During the same time, the number of hypertensive elderlies increased from 507000 to 2822000 along with rapid ageing of the Korean population. Despite of significant improvement in treatment rate, there are still around 583000 elderlies with untreated hypertension (423000 ISH; 42000 IDH; 118000 SDH) as of 2012.
CONCLUSION
Although the prevalence of hypertension has been constant over the last decades, absolute number of people with hypertension has been increasing. Along with the rapid population ageing, the number of elderly hypertension is increasing and the ISH is also becoming more prevalent.

Keyword

Hypertension; Prevalence; Trends; Isolated systolic hypertension; Isolated diastolic hypertension

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Aged
Blood Pressure
Cardiovascular Diseases
Humans
Hypertension*
Korea*
Nutrition Surveys*
Prevalence*

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Proportion of hypertension subtypes by sex and age, 2010-2012. Proportions of hypertension subtypes were estimated by applying sampling weights. SDH: systolic and diastolic hypertension, IDH: isolated diastolic hypertension, ISH: isolated systolic hypertension.

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  Fig. 2 Trends in absolute number of people with hypertension by subtype, age ≥20 years. Numbers of people with hypertension were estimated by applying sampling weights. SDH: systolic and diastolic hypertension, IDH: isolated diastolic hypertension, ISH: isolated systolic hypertension.

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  Fig. 3 Trends in absolute number of people with hypertension by subtype, age ≥65 years. Numbers of people with hypertension were estimated by applying sampling weights. SDH: systolic and diastolic hypertension, IDH: isolated diastolic hypertension, ISH: isolated systolic hypertension.

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