Screening for hypertension ina working population

Data of hypertension prevalence and control in a mixture of employed populations wasobtained from a multiphasic screening centre. About 8% of the 15,000 examinees were classified as hypertensives: 57% of this hypertensive group were unaware of their condition. Of those aware of having hypertension (541 persons), about 75% were taking antihypertensive medication and in about 67% of them the blood pressure was adequately controlled. It is pointed out that various ambulatory or occupational health services areparticularly suitable for such long range programs for detection, follow up and evaluation of blood pressure in these populations, thus assisting the reduction of overall damage inflicted to the community by uncontrolled hypertension.