Advances in the management of hypertension in the community over four years of intervention of the North Karelia project

A community programme for control of hypertension has been in progress since 1972 as a part of a comprehensive cardiovascular control programme in the county of North Karelia, Finland. A follow-up has been carried out throughout the programme using postal surveys twice a year to cross-sectional representative population samples of 3·5% from the population aged 25–59. Blood pressure measurements increased in frequency so that after 2 years of intervention half of the population were regularly monitored. The degree of awareness rose clearly, especially among men. During the first 4 years the proportion of men under drug treatment increased by 400% and that of women by 50%. When awareness and number under treatment increased, the health services were able to take care of them more adequately under the reorganized service system. Three years after the beginning practically all the patients received regular blood pressure check-ups and clinical visits.