Prevalence of Hypertension in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Impact of the Tightening Definition of High Blood Pressure and Association With Confounding Risk Factors

The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) has recommended a downward shift in target blood pressure to <130/80 mm Hg in diabetic patients, thus operatively setting a new threshold level for the definition of hypertension at 130/80 mm Hg. The authors performed a retrospective chart analysis of 2227 type 2 diabetes patients treated in one hospital-based and two community-based clinics in central Israel to determine the prevalence of hypertension as a function of three diagnostic threshold levels. The prevalence of hypertension in this cohort was 60.2%, 76.5%, and 85.8% at blood pressure thresholds of 140/90, 130/85, and 130/80 mm Hg respectively. Hypertension prevalence increased with age, reaching a rate of 94.4% in patients aged 80 years or more when the cutoff value of 130/80 mm Hg was used. At this cutoff, 93.3% and 86.6% of patients with a body mass index over or under 30 kg/m(2), respectively, were diagnosed with hypertension. As hypertension appears to eventually afflict the vast majority of diabetic patients, the minority of subjects not developing hypertension emerges as a unique group, which potentially deserves further in-depth study.