High Blood Pressure in Minnesota

How common is high blood pressure?

• In 2023, approximately 30% of Minnesota adults reported having high blood pressure, one of the seven lowest states. This is almost 1.4 million people.
• In 2022, hypertensive diseases were listed as the underlying or contributing cause of death for 14,225 Minnesotans, representing almost 28% of all deaths. 

Are there disparities in high blood pressure rates in Minnesota?

• After adjusting for differences in age, 35% of Black or African American Minnesotans reported high blood pressure, compared to 28% of Minnesotans overall in 2023.
• Minnesota adults with any reported disability are more likely to report having high blood pressure than adults without a disability. The percent of adults with disabilities affecting vision, mobility, and self-care who report having high blood pressure is more than 12 percentage points higher than those without a disability (37% vs 25%).
• Of Minnesotan adults living in households making less than $35,000 a year, almost 31% reported having high blood pressure, four points higher than Minnesotans overall. 

What are the economic costs of high blood pressure?

In the United States, there were over $52 billion in annual medical costs, including procedures, hospitalizations, rehabilitation, and productivity losses due to hypertension during 2019 and 2020.

How well is high blood pressure being controlled?

• Of Minnesota adults who reported having high blood pressure in 2023, approximately 77% reported that they were taking medications prescribed to reduce their blood pressure.
• In 2018, about one in four adults were not taking their blood pressure medication according to doctor’s orders. Among younger adults (18-44 years old), more than half were non-adherent.
• In 2022, 71% of Minnesotans aged 18-85 in managed care plans who received a diagnosis of hypertension had their blood pressure adequately controlled to 140/90 mm Hg or lower. Blood pressure control declined sharply in 2020 due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the ability of many patients to access primary care, their providers, and sometimes their medications. In the years since, blood pressure control has increased and is approaching pre-pandemic levels (74.5% in 2019). 

Learn more: 

• Heart Disease, Stroke, Hypertension, and Diabetes Deaths in Minnesota Dashboard
• Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Hospitalizations in Minnesota Dashboard
• Cardiovascular Health and Diabetes Prevalence in Minnesota Dashboard
• About high blood pressure: Health information on high blood pressure and its risk factors

For more information, contact: health.heart@state.mn.us

References

1. Minnesota Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Unadjusted prevalence.
2. Vital Statistics 2012-2022. MN Center for Health Statistics, MDH.
3. Martin SS, Aday AW, Almarzooq ZI, et al. 2024. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association [published correction appears in Circulation. 2024 May 7;149(19):e1164. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001247]. Circulation. 2024;149(8):e347-e913. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000001209.
4. MDH/Cardiovascular Health Unit analysis of Minnesota All Payer Claims Database (MN APCD). 1 Nov 2022.  
5. Minnesota Community Measurement 20231 Health Care Quality Report (PDF), Part 2.