Comparing the Trends of Elevated Blood Pressure in Appalachian and Non‐Appalachian Regions

As an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke, hypertension risks are often thought to be more prevalent in A ppalachian mountain ranges when compared with other neighboring counterpart regions. This study evaluated blood pressure (BP) readings among 2358 K entucky residents attending community stroke risk screening events held in 15 counties, including nine A ppalachian counties (n=1134) and six non‐ A ppalachian counties (n=1224). With high BP being operationally defined as ≥140/90 mm Hg, 41.5% of A ppalachian county residents had elevated BP compared with 42.6% among those from non‐ A ppalachian counties. Although the counties with the highest rates of elevated BP did tend to reside in the A ppalachian region, there was no significant difference between rates of elevated BP in A ppalachia vs non‐ A ppalachian counties. This dataset is proposed as a pilot project to encourage further pursuit of a larger controlled project.