Measure Up Pressure Down American Medical Group Foundation

High Blood Pressure Statistics

High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the most prevalent health conditions facing Americans. In fact, 68 million Americans – 1 in every 3 U.S. adults – have high blood pressure, and nearly 20 percent do not know they have it. Sadly, the disease can lead to other health problems, including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

Measure Up/Pressure Down® medical groups are already improving these statistics. View our campaign success stories and best practices to see how these groups are moving the needle in blood pressure control.

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Health Toll

• Less than half of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.
• High blood pressure contributes to nearly 1,000 deaths a day.
• Approximately 20 percent of U.S. adults who have high blood pressure do not know they have it.
• Almost 30 percent of American adults have prehypertension, which raises the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• Sixty-nine percent of people who have a first heart attack, 77 percent of people who have a first stroke, and 74 percent of people with chronic heart failure have high blood pressure.
• In 2009, nearly 350,000 American deaths included high blood pressure as a primary or contributing cause.
• The U.S. isn’t the only country facing high blood pressure; globally, 40 percent of adults ages 25 and older had high blood pressure in 2008.

Financial Costs

• High blood pressure costs the nation $47.5 billion annually in direct medical expenses. Another $3.5 billion is attributed to lost productivity each year.
• Costs to the nation due to high blood pressure are estimated at $131 billion in health care services, medications and missed days of work.
• Annual costs directly attributable to high blood pressure are projected to more than double over the next two decades. Based on 2010 annual costs, an increase of $130.4 billion is anticipated by 2030, bringing the projected annual total to $200.3 billion by 2030. (2010 figures are based on real 2008 dollars.)
• Reducing average population sodium intake from 3,300 mg to 2,300 mg per day may save $18 billion in health care costs and reduce cases of high blood pressure by 11 million annually.

View sources for each statistic here.

Interactive Maps

Many organizations have developed interactive maps that show the effect of high blood pressure in communities throughout the United States. Learn about how the disease impacts your county, state, race, or gender with these tools:

• Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke provides information around health indicators (including high blood pressure hospitalizations, hospital discharge status, and mortality), determinants of health, and health services sorted by state, county, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and year. Data is from a variety of sources detailed here.
• Prevalence of Hypertension in U.S. (see screenshot) includes data by state, county, gender, and race. Data is from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (United States Hypertension Estimates by County, 2001 and 2009).
• U.S. Health Map details high blood pressure prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and self-reporting by state, county, gender, and race. Data is from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.