Screening for hypertension in a middle-aged population in Southwest Finland

The occurrence and treatment of hypertension were investigated and the benefit of screening for hypertension was evaluated in a middle-aged population in two rural districts in southwest Finland. A total of 1223 (93.2%) of the women and 1042 (93.1%) of the men, 40–64 years of age, participated in the hypertension screening program. With the criterion of ? 105 mm Hg, the prevalence of hypertension based on three separate measurements was 12.5 and 8.4% for the women and men, respectively, when those already being treated were included. If in the present study a single blood pressure reading had been considered sufficient, the prevalence of “hypertension” would have been almost twofold (20.4%) that based on three measurements for women and it would have been more than twofold for men (21.4%). Seventy-three percent of the female hypertensives and 59% of the male hypertensives were being treated. Only 10% of the female and 15% of the male hypertensives were unaware of their hypertension. The majority (75%) of these persons had consulted a doctor or a nurse during the previous year without their hypertension being detected. Because the majority of the hypertensives were already being treated and, moreover, most of those untreated were already aware of their disease, a systematic screening of the rural middle-aged population in southwest Finland is not considered necessary, especially since community plans for health care services in Finland should double the contact between the physicians in the community health centers and the residents during the next few years.