Hypertension prevalence in 6 European countries, Canada and the United States, men and women combined, by age group (source: Wolf-Maier et al., 2003)

Reproduction of figure 3 from Wolf-Maier et al., 2003. Reproduced with permission.

Remarks

Data originate from population-based, national surveys. Surveys were based either on random population samples of the entire nation or on a series of regional samples. None were restricted to a single region or province within a country. The number of participants in the different surveys ranged from 1823 (Sweden) to 23129 (Canada).

The response rate varied from 61% (Germany) to 87.5% (England). The age distribution in the original surveys varied from 35 to 64 years (Spain) to 18 to 80 years (United States).

The age distribution in the original surveys varied from 35 to 64 years (Spain) to 18 to 80 years (United States).

The surveys were conducted at different points in time from 1986 to 1999.

Blood pressure measurements were obtained using a mercury sphygmomanometer in all surveys except for England, where an automatic, electronic measurement device was used.

At least two blood pressure measurements were performed in all surveys. The time interval between the two measurements was 1 to 3 minutes in all surveys, except Canada, where 10 to 60 minutes passed between both measurements.

Mean blood pressure presented in the graph is based on the second measurement.

Mean blood pressures were calculated for sex-specific 5-year age groups.

For comparison of mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the European vs. the North American countries presented in the graph, mean blood pressure measurements were averaged using each country as a single unit.

For more details see the data source article by Wolf-Maier et al., 2003.