Awareness and treatment of arterial hypertension in Poland.

In order to find out the general public's opinion on blood pressure (BP) control in Poland a poll was conducted on a representative sample of 2080 randomly selected subjects. Overall 71% of the subjects were aware of their BP level. The awareness of BP level increased progressively with age and education level. Among those who were aware of their BP level, 21% had hypertension. Only 43% of hypertensives were treated on a regular basis. Cigarettes were smoked by 33% of the patients. Only 16% of the hypertensives used a low-salt diet, and only 31% tried to reduce animal fat in their diet. More than a half of the hypertensives did not adjust their lifestyle and daily habits to the disease. In conclusion, these results indicate that the prevention and treatment of hypertension in Poland should be urgently improved.