Current Status of Hypertension Control in an Industrial Population

Evidence for the beneficial effect of antihypertensive treatment has recently been obtained in controlled clinical trials.^1,2For men with moderate and severe hypertension, there can now be little doubt of the efficacy of current available drug treatment in preventing serious complications, including death. Although statistically significant evidence has not yet been obtained for patients with the mildest degrees of hypertension, it is likely that for them, too, treatment will be beneficial. In the absence to date of a definitive trial, it is also reasonable to infer that the consequences of hypertension in women will be ameliorated by effective treatment. The recent findings on the value of antihypertensive therapy highlight the need to assess the current status of efforts to identify and treat persons with this disease. From 1967 on, the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry has been systematically investigating these matters in an extensive survey of men