NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2012
Contact: Lulu Todorov (215.825.8202 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Many Adults in Southeastern Pennsylvania Not Getting Screened for High Blood Pressure
Data Show One in 10 Adults Have Not Received Yearly Screening, as World Heart Day Approaches
PHILADELPHIA – Researchers at Public Health Management Corporation’s (PHMC) Community Health Data Base (CHDB) learned from their 2010 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey data that one in 10 adults (9.4%) have not had a blood pressure screening in the past year, representing nearly 283,000 adults in the region. Furthermore, almost one in three adults (31.4%) has high blood pressure, representing about 945,000 adults in the region. The findings come at a time when hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure, affects approximately one in three adults in the United States and more than 1 billion adults worldwide.*
“The relationship between blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease is well established,” says CHDB associate Nicole Dreisbach, “The higher the blood pressure, the greater the chance of heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention label high blood pressure as the “silent killer” due to the lack of warning signs or symptoms associated with the disease.** Given that many people do not realize they have hypertension until it is too late, physicians encourage adults aged 18 and older to have their blood pressure checked every year. “As September 29 marks World Heart Day, this is an opportunity to remind adults to maintain healthy lifestyles by getting regular screenings for blood pressure,” says Dreisbach. Heart disease and stroke claim over 17 million lives per year.**
While the study found that nearly one in 10 adults (9.4 %) has not had a blood pressure screening in the past year, it also revealed:
• Men (11.3%) are slightly more likely not to have had a blood pressure screening in the past year compared with women (8.0%).
• Almost one in five Latino adults (18.1%) has not had a blood pressure screening in the past year compared with Asian (15.4%), black (10.0%) and white (8.5%) adults.
• As age increases, the likelihood of not having a blood pressure screening in the past year decreases: 15.5% of adults aged 18 to 39, 11.8% of adults aged 40 to 49, 7.3% of adults aged 50 to 59, 2.8% of adults aged 60 to 74, and 2.6% of adults aged 75 or older have not had a blood pressure screening in the past year.
• One in four adults without a regular source of care (26.5%) has not had a blood pressure screening in the past year compared with 7.6% of adults who have a regular source.
• Almost one in three uninsured adults aged 18 to 64 (31.3%) have not had a blood pressure screening in the past year compared with a much lower percentage of their counterparts who are privately insured (9.0%) or publicly insured (7.9%).
• In Southeastern Pennsylvania, 12.6% of adults living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level have not had a blood pressure screening in the past year compared with 8.8% of adults living at or above the poverty level.***
CHDB also will release findings that examine demographic characteristics of adults in the region who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. For more information about the study findings, contact Nicole Dreisbach at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vital signs: prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension—United States, 1999-2002 and 2005-2008. MMWR. 2011;60(4):103-8.
** World Heart Federation. About World Heart Day, 2012. Available at: http://www.world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/awareness/world-heart-day/about-world-heart-day/
**** Poverty level is calculated based on family size and income. For example, a family of four with an annual income of less than $33,075 in 2009 was considered living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level.
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About CHDB
Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base Household Health Survey is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country. The Pew Charitable Trusts, William Penn Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, United Way of North Penn, CIGNA Foundation, Green Tree Community Health Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, North Penn Community Health Foundation, Thomas Scattergood Foundation and over 350 local agencies from the health, government, nonprofit and academic sectors help to support CHDB. To view previous data news releases, please click here. For more information, or to access key findings from previous years, please visit www.chdbdata.org.
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce. PHMC has served the region since 1972. For more information on PHMC, visit www.phmc.org.
