The study, published in BMJ Public Health, analysed blood pressure measurements collected through Our Future Health, the UK’s largest health research programme.
Researchers examined data from adults who enrolled between 2022 and 2025 to assess how common hypertension was and how many people had been diagnosed, treated and successfully controlled.
The researchers found that 37.2% of participants met the study’s definition of hypertension.
The condition was defined using World Health Organization criteria as a systolic blood pressure reading of at least 140 millimetres of mercury, a diastolic reading of at least 90 mmHg, or the use of blood pressure-lowering medication.
Among those with hypertension, 58.8% were considered to have undetected high blood pressure.
This meant they had not previously been diagnosed by a health professional and were not taking medication to lower their blood pressure.
The prevalence of hypertension increased substantially with age. About 15% of adults aged 18 to 39 had high blood pressure, compared with about 71% among people aged 80 and older.
After adjusting for age, hypertension was also more common among men than women, at about 42% compared with 29%.
The researchers also found that receiving treatment did not always mean that blood pressure was adequately controlled.
Among participants taking one or more blood pressure-lowering medicines, 50.2% still had readings of at least 140/90 mmHg.
Wenyu Liu, a medical statistician at Oxford Population Health and the study’s lead author, said the findings show that high blood pressure is present across many demographic groups, including younger adults.
The researchers said the findings point to a need for more proactive detection of hypertension, alongside targeted treatment for people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
Iain Turnbull, a GP and clinical research fellow at Oxford Population Health, said many patients with high blood pressure remain undetected or are not adequately treated.
The study’s authors noted that hypertension is an important contributor to cardiovascular disease, stroke and premature death.
They concluded that population-wide prevention strategies and improved identification and treatment could help address the high level of undetected and inadequately controlled hypertension in England.
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