The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence, incidence and lifetime risk of developing hypertension after a given age in the Province of Quebec. An administrative database was used to form a cohort of 20,000 subjects selected in 1987 from a random sample of individuals aged 45 or older, living in the Province of Quebec. These individuals were followed from 1986 to 2003. Incident cases of essential hypertension were selected on the basis of an outpatient diagnosis of hypertension. The Framingham approach was used to calculate incidence rate. The incidence of hypertension in the Quebec cohort was 22 per 1,000 person-years for men and 31 per 1,000 person-years for women; it was higher for women for all the age groups under study. The lifetime risk of developing hypertension for subjects who attained the age of 46 free of hypertension in the Quebec cohort was 66%; this was 20% higher for women than for men (72% compared with 59%). In the Quebec cohort, the incidence of hypertension is very high particularly for women. The data provide evidence that, in Quebec, detection of hypertension is to be maximized, for both men and women.

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