High blood pressure: Primary care

Scottish Primary Care Information Resource

The Scottish Primary Care Information Resource (SPIRE) provided aggregate data estimating the prevalence of high blood pressure based on primary care consultations in Scotland between 2018 and 2023, when the service was decommissioned.

Chart 1 shows the number of primary care consultations in 2023 by age group and sex. Overall, SPIRE estimates that 13.2% of patients had a primary care consultation in 2023 relating to high blood pressure. In those under the age of 75, the number of consultations was higher in men than women, with women making up the majority of primary care consultations in over 75s. Across all age groups, the number of consultations was approximately equal in both sexes with women accounting for 51%. This trend cannot be explained by the disparity in life expectancy between men and women, as prevalence of high blood pressure exhibits the same trend. The rise in consultations and prevalence in women in the oldest age groups compared to men may be the result of the withdrawal of the female sex hormone oestrogen during and after menopause, which is thought to protect against hypertension earlier in life (Connelly et al., 2022).

More detailed statistics on primary care consultations on high blood pressure including breakdowns by geographical area are available in the SPIRE General Practice Disease Prevalence dashboard. Please note that SPIRE was an aggregate collection representing only 69% of General Practices in Scotland; therefore, these figures may not be representative of the entire population.

Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.