Closing the Gap? Recent Trends in Racial Differences in Blood Pressure Control in the United States

Despite the availability of multiple classes of effective antihypertensive medication, most US adults with hypertension have uncontrolled blood pressure (BP), defined by the 2025 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology BP guideline as systolic BP ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 80 mmHg. Disparities have been documented in the US for several decades, with a higher percentage of US Black versus US White adults having uncontrolled BP. In this article, we review data on the prevalence of uncontrolled BP among racial and ethnic groups in the US and approaches to achieving BP equity.