Sentara research shows hypertension is increasingly common, reflecting national trend
The study, a collaboration with Yale, will help Sentara create targeted local healthcare initiatives
A new study by Sentara Health researchers offers an in-depth analysis of high blood pressure trends in Sentara’s patient population, which spans Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
The research, which analyzes data from the region, will help Sentara create targeted local healthcare initiatives.
“We are excited to turn our research into action that helps those who are most at risk,” said Jordan Asher, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Sentara, who was one of the study’s authors.
“This study allows us to use an asset, our data, to impact our mission of improving health every day. Moreover, it gives us critical information on health disparities in those with hypertension, which allows us to tailor our approaches to impacting the health inequities we see in Black Americans.”
Sentara researchers partnered with colleagues from the Yale School of Medicine for the paper, which was published in April in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Nationally, nearly half of all adults have hypertension. The condition, which disproportionally impacts Black communities, is a major cause of strokes, heart attacks, and early deaths.
According to the Sentara study’s findings, cases of high blood pressure, or hypertension, increased by about 5% across all groups from 2010 to 2021.
In addition, the study found that hypertension rates were 12% to 14% higher in non-Hispanic Black patients compared to non-Hispanic White patients, and about 7% higher in men compared to women.
The results reflected national trends. According to the CDC, hypertension increased by about 4% nationally during a similar period, while hypertension rates were 14% higher in Blacks patients compared to White patients, and 11% higher in men compared to women.
Sentara’s extensive healthcare network, which includes a wide spectrum of clinicians, allowed it to include nearly 1.4 million adults in the study. The research used appropriate safeguards to protect patient privacy.
Sentara’s efforts to reduce health disparities include a recent partnership with Black faith-based communities to improve blood pressure control. This April, researchers began recruiting participants from 10 Black churches in Hampton Roads to study the best way to control high blood pressure. The $3.4 million study has a five-year timeline.
High blood pressure is linked to social and economic conditions, including education level, housing, and food availability, said John Brush, M.D., Sentara’s chief research officer and the lead author of the paper on hypertension.
Dr. Brush said it’s important for Sentara “to look at our own regional trends and disparities.”
“The racial and socio-economic make-up of our region are unique, and our approaches need to be uniquely tailored to our region.”
Dr. Brush added that the study’s findings, because they are measured close to home, are a “compelling call to action.”
Sentara researchers are now analyzing associations between measures of social vulnerability and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with high blood pressure, Dr. Brush said.
The measures of social vulnerability include demographic and socioeconomic factors that negatively impact health, from poverty to crowded housing.
The research, which analyzes data from the region, will help Sentara create targeted local healthcare initiatives.
“We are excited to turn our research into action that helps those who are most at risk,” said Jordan Asher, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Sentara, who was one of the study’s authors.
“This study allows us to use an asset, our data, to impact our mission of improving health every day. Moreover, it gives us critical information on health disparities in those with hypertension, which allows us to tailor our approaches to impacting the health inequities we see in Black Americans.”
Sentara researchers partnered with colleagues from the Yale School of Medicine for the paper, which was published in April in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Nationally, nearly half of all adults have hypertension. The condition, which disproportionally impacts Black communities, is a major cause of strokes, heart attacks, and early deaths.
According to the Sentara study’s findings, cases of high blood pressure, or hypertension, increased by about 5% across all groups from 2010 to 2021.
In addition, the study found that hypertension rates were 12% to 14% higher in non-Hispanic Black patients compared to non-Hispanic White patients, and about 7% higher in men compared to women.
The results reflected national trends. According to the CDC, hypertension increased by about 4% nationally during a similar period, while hypertension rates were 14% higher in Blacks patients compared to White patients, and 11% higher in men compared to women.
Sentara’s extensive healthcare network, which includes a wide spectrum of clinicians, allowed it to include nearly 1.4 million adults in the study. The research used appropriate safeguards to protect patient privacy.
Tackling health disparities
Sentara’s efforts to reduce health disparities include a recent partnership with Black faith-based communities to improve blood pressure control. This April, researchers began recruiting participants from 10 Black churches in Hampton Roads to study the best way to control high blood pressure. The $3.4 million study has a five-year timeline.
High blood pressure is linked to social and economic conditions, including education level, housing, and food availability, said John Brush, M.D., Sentara’s chief research officer and the lead author of the paper on hypertension.
Dr. Brush said it’s important for Sentara “to look at our own regional trends and disparities.”
“The racial and socio-economic make-up of our region are unique, and our approaches need to be uniquely tailored to our region.”
Dr. Brush added that the study’s findings, because they are measured close to home, are a “compelling call to action.”
Sentara researchers are now analyzing associations between measures of social vulnerability and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with high blood pressure, Dr. Brush said.
The measures of social vulnerability include demographic and socioeconomic factors that negatively impact health, from poverty to crowded housing.