Objective: To examine whether there were long-term (between 1988-1994 and 2001-2008) and recent (between 2001-2004 and 2005-2008) changes in blood pressure (BP) levels among U.S. adults with diagnosed diabetes.
Research design and methods: Using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), we examined changes in BP distributions, mean BPs, and proportion with BP<140/90 mmHg.
Results: Between 1988-1994 and 2001-2008, for adults with diabetes, mean BPs decreased from 135/72 mmHg to 131/69 mmHg (P<0.01) and the proportion with BP<140/90 mmHg increased from 64 to 69% (P=0.01). Although hypertension prevalence increased, hypertension awareness, treatment, and control improved. However, there was no evidence of improvement for adults 20-44 years old. Between 2001-2004 and 2005-2008, there were no significant changes in BP levels.
Conclusions: BP levels among adults with diabetes improved between 1988-1994 and 2001-2008, but the progress stalled between 2001-2004 and 2005-2008. The lack of improvement among young adults is concerning.