CDC Surveillance System: U.S. Veterans with a Diagnosis of Hypertension by Age

Percentage of Patients with a Diagnosis of Hypertension by Age and Year Veterans Affairs Health System
Year	20–29 years	30–39 years	40–49 years	50–59 years	60–69 years	70+ years
2005	7.5% (CI 6.8-8.2)	20.9% (CI 20.1-21.8)	39.2% (CI 38.6-39.9)	61.0% (CI 60.6-61.4)	74.4% (CI 74.0-74.9)	80.2% (CI 79.9-80.5)
2006	7.8% (CI 7.2-8.5)	21.5% (CI 20.7-22.3)	39.3% (CI 38.6-39.9)	61.7% (CI 61.3-62.1)	74.1% (CI 73.7-74.5)	80.4% (CI 80.2-80.7)
2007	8.3% (CI 7.7-8.9)	22.4% (CI 21.6-23.2)	40.6% (CI 39.9-41.2)	63.2% (CI 62.8-63.7)	74.8% (CI 74.4-75.1)	81.5% (CI 81.3-81.8)
2008	9.7% (CI 9.0-10.3)	22.9% (CI 22.0-23.7)	41.3% (CI 40.5-42.0)	63.8% (CI 63.3-64.3)	74.8% (CI 74.4-75.2)	81.9% (CI 81.6-82.2)
2009	10.7% (CI 10.1-11.3)	23.0% (CI 22.2-23.7)	41.6% (CI 41.0-42.3)	62.8% (CI 62.3-63.2)	74.6% (CI 74.3-75.0)	81.0% (CI 80.7-81.3)
2010	10.8% (CI 10.7-11.0)	22.6% (CI 22.4-22.7)	41.5% (CI 41.4-41.6)	61.7% (CI 61.6-61.8)	73.6% (CI 73.5-73.6)	79.0% (CI 79.0-79.1)
2011	11.2% (CI 11.1-11.3)	21.9% (CI 21.7-22.0)	40.9% (CI 40.8-41.1)	60.2% (CI 60.1-60.3)	72.5% (CI 72.5-72.6)	77.6% (CI 77.5-77.7)
2012	12.1% (CI 12.0-12.2)	22.3% (CI 22.1-22.4)	41.4% (CI 41.2-41.5)	60.1% (CI 60.0-60.2)	73.4% (CI 73.4-73.5)	77.3% (CI 77.3-77.4)

Related Indicators

The fraction of patients meeting our definition of hypertension increases with age from 7-8% for ages 20-29, 17-21% for ages 30-39, 35-39% for ages 40-49, 55-62% for ages 50-59, 67-74% for ages 60-69 and 73-81% for ages 70+.

Chart Explanation: The percentage of patients with hypertension by year is displayed. The percentage of patients with hypertension increased with increasing age.

The Veteran’s Affairs (VA) data presented are from a national sample of health care visits to the VA Health System by eligible U. S. veterans. During any given year, ~ 70% of the outpatient population receives a serum creatinine test. While the demographics of VA Health System users are distinct from the general U.S. population, the VA data allow a ‘snapshot’ of clinical practices across the nation.

National VA data were examined. Within each VISN (Veterans Integrated Service Network), a 5% random sample of patients was extracted from the national VA data repository each fiscal year (FY) from FY2005 to FY2009. Starting in FY2010 and continuing in future years, analyses were performed on the entire patient population (100% sample).

This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Field	Data
Description of Measure	Hypertension as a risk factor for CKD
Data Source	VA
Type of Data Source	Administrative
Data Set	VA National 5% Sample (FY05-FY09) and 100% (FY10-present)
Health Care System Data	Yes
Regional or National?	National
Demographic Group	Patients in VA health system
Numerator	Patients in denominator with diagnosis of hypertension or who are on medication for blood pressure control.
Denominator	Patients >20 years old and who had at least 1 outpatient visit in the fiscal year.
Definition of hypertension	Hypertension status determined by ICD-9-CM code (401, 402, 403, 404, 405 ) and/or prescribed antihypertensive medication (outpatient only).
Primary Data Source Indicator	ICD-9-CM code for hypertension
Primary Indicator Method of Measurement	Medical record
Secondary (1) Variable	Age = (Date of Visit - Date of Birth)/365.25
Secondary (1) Indicator Method of Measurement	Outpatient Visit
Frequency of Measurement (Primary)	Multiple measurements per patient
U.S. Region Covered by Primary Variable	All
Period Currently Available	2005–2012
Limitations of Indicator	Prevalence estimation limited by health care system testing and patient utilization of health care resources.
Analytical Considerations	Coding of medications in the VA system changed in 2009, differences in prevalence calculations may not be due to true changes in underlying population.

Suggested Citation:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance System—United States.
website. http://www.cdc.gov/ckd