Cardiovascular Health and Hypertension Epidemiology
Summary
The landscape of cardiovascular health is shaped by the prevalence, distribution and determinants of hypertension, a principal modifiable risk factor for ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Hypertension epidemiology encompasses the study of blood pressure patterns in populations, the identification of at-risk groups and the monitoring of trends over time and across regions. Ageing populations, urbanisation and lifestyle changes have driven a global rise in non-communicable diseases, with a marked shift from infectious to chronic cardiovascular conditions. Epidemiological transition varies by socioeconomic context, with some low- and middle-income countries experiencing a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Surveillance systems have refined metrics such as prevalence, incidence and disability-adjusted life-years to quantify the burden of disease. Risk factor profiling has underscored the contributions of dietary sodium, physical inactivity, obesity and metabolic disturbances to elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Understanding these patterns is essential for the design of targeted prevention, screening and treatment strategies, and for gauging the impact of health policies on population cardiovascular risk.
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Cardiovascular Health and Hypertension Epidemiology publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in cardiovascular health and hypertension epidemiology across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Cardiovascular disease (CVD): A class of disorders affecting the heart and blood vessels, including ischaemic heart disease and stroke.
Hypertension: A chronic condition characterised by persistently elevated arterial blood pressure, typically defined as systolic ≥140 mmHg or diastolic ≥90 mmHg.
Prevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or condition at a given time.
Incidence: The rate at which new cases of a disease occur in a population over a specified period.
Disability-adjusted life-year (DALY): A metric combining years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability, used to quantify overall disease burden.
Non-communicable disease (NCD): A medical condition that is not infectious and typically of long duration, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases.
References
- The burden of diseases and risk factors in Bangladesh, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet Global Health (2023).
- Burden of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, 1990–2017: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet Global Health (2019).
- Panethnic Differences in Blood Pressure in Europe: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE (2016).
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