High Blood Pressure: key points

• High blood pressure is a major risk factor for death, disease and health problems. 
• In 2019 around a quarter of the population of Scotland aged 16 years and over had raised blood pressure. 
• Prevalence increases sharply with age, although the pattern with age differs between men and women. Almost two thirds of those over 75 years have high blood pressure.
• A large proportion of those with high blood pressure do not attend their GP for treatment of the condition, or attend less frequently than once per year. 
• During 2012/13, approximately 100 out of every 1,000 patients registered with a practice consulted a member of the general practice team at least once because of a high blood pressure.