Obesity, Sex, Race, and Early Onset Hypertension

Investigation for secondary causes is recommended in early onset hypertension. However, obesity is associated with higher blood pressure (BP), so investigation for alternative secondary causes may not be necessary in all obese patients. We sought to define a rational approach to investigation across strata of age, body mass index (BMI) sex and race, based on BP distributions in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2005 to 2016. The majority (71% [95% CI, 59%–79%] and 64% [95% CI, 57%–69%] by European and US definitions respectively) of early onset hypertension cases were attributable to BP distribution shifts accompanying obesity and male sex. Male versus female sex, BMI>40 versus 18.2更多