Screening for hypertension in an elderly population: report from the Dunedin Program.

Hypertension detection and follow-up programs have recently received increased attention. The authors studied the effect of screening for hypertension in a geriatric screening program for a large ambulatory elderly population in Dunedin, Florida, over a three-year period. Of the 4,247 participants initially screened, 39 percent had some form of hypertension, and 15.6 percent of these had not received any form of treatment. At the time of the first year follow-up, the proportion of participants with treated, controlled hypertension had increased from 14.7 to 21 percent. These data lend support to the value of hypertension screening among persons over 65 years of age.