The incidence of arterial hypertension in the male population aged 40-59 years in Moscow and Kaunas.

The authors examined 1480 Moscow and 1568 Kaunas male residents aged between 40 and 59 years. The incidence of arterial hypertension (AH) in Moscow and Kaunas amounted to 27.9 and 21.8% respectively. Of the total number of subjects examined in the two cities 24.5% (Moscow) and 59.4% (Kaunas) were unaware of their condition. Only 12.8% of the Moscow residents and 3.2% of the Kaunas residents were treated. The results are analyzed with respect to earlier therapy, its efficacy and standardization of measurement of arterial pressure in the course of cooperative studies. The high incidence of AH, ignorance of the patients of their condition, the low percentage of patients with an established diagnosis of AH emphasize the need for devising a system of identifying hypertensive patients and for treating them appropriately.