RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The Korean Society of Hypertension has published the Korea Hypertension Fact Sheet 2022 to provide an overview of the magnitude and management status of hypertension and their recent trends. METHODS: The Fact Sheets were based on the analyses of Korean adults aged 20 years or older of the 1998-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2002-2020 National Health Insurance Big Data. RESULTS: As of 2020, 29.4% of the adult population aged 20 or older in Korea, about 12.6 million people, have high blood pressure, of which 5.0 million (40%) are 65 years of age or older and 1.2 million (10%) are 80 years of age or older. Among those with hypertension, the awareness rate is 69%, the treatment rate is 65%, and the control rate is 47%. The number of people diagnosed with hypertension increased from 3.0 million in 2002 to 10.5 million in 2020. During the same period, the number of people using antihypertensive medication increased from 2.5 million to 9.9 million, and the number of people adherent to treatment increased from 0.6 million to 7.4 million. Among those treated for hypertension in 2020, 74% used angiotensin blockers, 61% used calcium channel blockers, 24% used diuretics, and 15% used beta blockers. Combination therapy with at least two classes of antihypertensive medication consisted of 60% of all antihypertensive prescriptions. The number of people with hypertension aged 65 or older is increasing very rapidly compared to those aged 20-64. Awareness and treatment rates of hypertension improved rapidly, especially in those aged 65 or older, but the rate of improvement slowed since 2012. CONCLUSIONS: In Korea, the level of hypertension management is improving, but the absolute number of people with hypertension, especially elderly hypertension, is increasing due to the rapid aging of the population. It is necessary to develop more efficient and target-specific policies to control blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular disease.
RESUMEN
Purpose: Research indicates that multiple forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) may be prevalent among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, including general forms of IPV (psychological, physical, sexual), as well as identity-specific forms (transgender-related IPV (T-IPV), identity abuse (IA)). Studies also suggest that IPV is associated with negative mental health outcomes in TGD populations, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, little is known about IPV and its association with mental health among TGD young adults. This is noteworthy, as this is a key developmental period for many TGD individuals. Methods: Thus, the present study sought (1) to estimate the lifetime and past-year prevalence of several forms of general and identity-specific IPV among a sample of (N = 200) TGD young adults in New York City and (2) to assess the associations between IPV with recent symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. To address the study aims, a cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted between July 2019 and March 2020. Results: Regarding lifetime IPV, IA was most prevalent (57.0%), followed by sexual (40.0%), physical (38.5%), T-IPV (35.5%), and psychological IPV (32.5%). Regarding past-year IPV, psychological IPV was most common (29.0%), followed by IA (27.5%), physical (20.0%), T-IPV (14.0%), and sexual IPV (12.5%). Results of hierarchical regression models indicate that lifetime IA was related to depression, anxiety, and PTSD, while past-year T-IPV was only associated with depression. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that IPV is highly prevalent among TGD young adults and that IPV - especially identity-specific forms - warrants additional attention from researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, as it may place this population at risk for negative mental health outcomes.
RESUMEN
Several studies have reported a positive association between psychological stress and cardiovascular diseases; however, there is scarce evidence about various aspects of life stress, including traumatic, positive, and negative events. We aimed to evaluate the association between various stressful life events and indicators of cardiovascular risk, including the augmentation index. A total of 3276 participants from the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center cohort (Mean age: 50.9) were analyzed cross-sectionally. By using the Life Experience Questionnaire, exposures were grouped as a "positive event," "negative event," or "traumatic event." The augmentation index and subclinical atherosclerosis were measured. Multivariate polytomous logistic regression was used. Overall, stressful life events did not show any significant association with any cardiovascular index; however, increased odds ratios were observed between augmentation index quartiles and those who had experienced traumatic events (quartile 4: odds ratio = 1.41, 95% confidence interval = 1.09-1.82). The association remained valid among women when stratified by sex. There was no significant result in men. Traumatic events in women were positively associated with the augmentation index. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to trauma in the context of increased cardiovascular risk in women.
