Relation between region of residence in the United States and hypertension incidence--the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study.

A number of studies have found hypertension prevalence to be higher in the southeast region of the United States than in other U.S. regions. To test the hypotheses that hypertension incidence is higher in the southeast than in other regions, and that higher levels of known hypertension risk factors in the southeast explain the difference in incidence, data from a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of a sample drawn from the U.S. population, the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study (1971-1984), were analyzed. In the United States, age-adjusted relative odds of incident hypertension between 1971 and 1984 did not vary consistently with region or with urbanization level. There was only a trend of higher relative odds in nonmetropolitan areas than in suburbs in the southeast in younger white men and older white women. Thus, convincing evidence to support the hypothesis of elevated hypertension incidence in the southeast region or in nonmetropolitan areas was not obtained. Further studies of region and hypertension incidence are needed to assess regional variation in larger, more recent cohorts.