Trends in hypertension-related death in the United States: 1980-1998.

Trends in hypertension-related mortality for groups by race/ethnicity, sex, and age have not been examined previously. National multiple-cause mortality files for 1980-1998 were analyzed for adult decedents with hypertension listed as one of 20 conditions causing death. Racial/ethnic comparisons of hypertension-related death were performed using age-standardized and age-specific rates in years (per 100,000). Age-standardized rate increased from 183.1 in 1980 to 243.7 in 1998, a relative increase of 33% and an average annual increase of 1.5% (p<0.0001). From 1981 to 1998, age-specific death rates increased for persons > or =85 years (average annual increase of 10.4% for blacks, 7.9% for whites), 75-84 years (5.9% for blacks, 3.6% for whites), and 65-74 years (3.2% for blacks, 1.4% for whites). By 1997-1998, blacks had greater death rates compared with whites at all ages. Over the past two decades, there has been a step-by-step increase in hypertension-related mortality, which has continued to show a male over female and black over white predominance. Prevention and control of hypertension must continue to be pursued as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality.