The Outcomes Research Task Force and the Canadian Hypertension Education Program.

The present report is an update on the contribution of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program's (CHEP) Outcomes Research Task Force to the surveillance and monitoring efforts surrounding hypertension and hypertension-related conditions in Canada. Components of the program include advocating national physical measures surveys of blood pressure; analysis of national cross-sectional and longitudinal population-based health surveys that assess hypertension diagnosis and treatment; assessment of national and regional pharmacotherapy patterns using existing commercial databases; assessment of national and regional trends in hypertensive complications (stroke, myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure); development of a national system based on provincial administrative data to assess the incidence, prevalence and management of diagnosed hypertension; and assessing some aspects of CHEP implementation. Preliminary data support a large increase in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension corresponding to the initiation of CHEP.