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(Hypertension. 2008;51:e48.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Gender and Blood Pressure Control

Department of Cardiology, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain

Carlos Escobar

Department of Cardiology, Hospital Infanta Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Rocio Echarri

Department of Nephrology, Hospital Infanta Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Arantxa Matalí

Almirall-Prodesfarma Pharmaceuticals, Barcelona, Spain

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

We read with interest the article by Keyhani et al¹ about gender disparities in blood pressure control in ambulatory practices across the United States. In this study, a total of 12 064 patient visits were identified (7786 women and 4278 men). Hypertension was identified by physicians in 4435 visits. Among patients with hypertension, women were less likely than men to meet blood pressure control targets (54.0% versus 58.7%; P<0.02), and this was confirmed by the multivariate analysis. Notably, there was no association between gender and the use of any antihypertensive medication or initiating a new therapy among patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

Although these findings are very interesting, they could not be largely applicable to other populations with a different risk profile. Thus, in a survey performed in the primary care setting in Spain that included 12 954 patients (6468 women and 6486 men) with hypertension, 49.1% of men versus 50.9% of women (P=0.049) attained blood pressure control, and, in the multivariate analysis, blood pressure control were not influenced by gender.² With regard to antihypertensive therapy, no differences were found in the number of agents according to gender. A total of 70.2% of women versus 72.1% of men were taking 2 antihypertensive drugs. Concerning the type of agents, only diuretics (36.9% in females versus 30.4% in males; P<0.001) and β-blockers (9.7% in women versus 14.5% in men; P<0.001) were different between genders.

Despite the substantial risk of developing or dying from coronary heart . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Barrios, C. Escobar, R. Echarri, and J. J. Jimenez-Nacher Antihypertensive drugs in daily clinical practice: are there differences between genders? Eur. Heart J., March 1, 2009; 30(5): 624 - 624. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Scobie, S. Keyhani, P. L. Hebert, and M. A. McLaughlin Response to Gender and Blood Pressure Control Hypertension, June 1, 2008; 51(6): e49 - e49. [Full Text] [PDF]