The elderly hypertensive: a neglected patient?

A cohort of 1,002 elderly hypertensive patients who received care at six family practice residency program clinics in Iowa was followed for nearly four years in a historical prospective design study. Demographic and clinical data were abstracted and the end points of the study were the occurrence of a cerebrovascular accident (n = 37), myocardial infarction (n = 27), or death (n = 102). Survival regression analysis showed that the risk of cerebrovascular accident is greater than any other major morbid event and that risk is proportional to increasing levels of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The findings are in agreement with published studies of hypertension and its treatment in other age groups.