The Influence of Race, Gender and Age on Hypertension

Aims: To estimate the prevalence of hypertension in New York State and demonstrate the influence of race, ethnicity, gender and age on hypertension; to illustrate that race is a significant predictor of blood pressure; to show that ethnicity, gender and age are also factors for hypertension.;Importance: Preventing hypertension and controlling blood pressure are important public health and governmental goals. Continuation of more research and studies to control hypertension is significant due to the growing number of hypertension patients across the United States. Approximately 60% of American adults have hypertension or elevated blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension has increased by approximately 10 percent during the past decade.;Methods: The data was collected from The Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) in New York State. SPARCS discharges are collected from inpatients from 2000 to 2012. The method is cross-sectional analysis. We looked for patients 18 years and older who are either white or black. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical analysis software (SAS) enterprise guide 5.1 software.;Results: The patients in the study were 58.0% female, 76.6% were white (vs. 23.4% black) and 5.8% Hispanic. Of the comorbidities listed, Ischemic Heart Disease had the highest prevalence (21.75%) with Bronchitis having the lowest (3.28%). Note that 52.7% have none of the listed risk factors while 24.04% have two or more. For the study population 43.98% of the patients had hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension consistently increases with age going from 6.49% hypertension for the 18--39 age group to 66.15% hypertension prevalence for the 80 + age group. Males had a higher rate of HTN (47.03%) versus females (41.77%). Blacks had a higher rate of hypertension compared with whites (45.49% vs. 43.52%) and non-Hispanics higher than Hispanics (44.42% vs. 36.83%). The bivariate relationships between each of the demographic and comorbid factors were all highly significant (p < 0.0001).;Conclusion: Race, ethnicity, gender and age are significant predictors of blood pressure.