They made these estimates by analyzing data collected for 1,921 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2002. The study focused on the 676 people from this group who had hypertension, defined as a blood pressure of 90 mm Hg diastolic or 140 mm Hg systolic or greater, or a pressure of 80 mm Hg diastolic or 130 mm Hg systolic or greater in patients with diabetes.
Using the Framingham risk formula for the 10-year risk of coronary heart disease events, Dr. Wong and his associates calculated the projected number of events expected for these 676 people on the basis of their clinical characteristics at the time of the survey. The calculations also showed that more events would be prevented by combined control of blood pressure and serum lipids than by the additive effect of controlling each of these parameters alone, said Dr. Wong, director of the heart disease prevention program at the University of California, Irvine. The study was sponsored by Pfizer Inc.