Key Messages
Prevalence
Technical Notes
Key Messages
- There were more than 134,000 (or nearly one-in-four) Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) living with hypertension in 2019.
- Hypertension prevalence rates have been decreasing in Simcoe Muskoka since 2012 and this decline has been faster among females when compared with males.
- Hypertension prevalence rates are highest among those living in areas with the most material deprivation and lowest among those living in areas with the least deprivation.
Prevalence
According to the hypertension cohorts developed by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), in 2019, more than 134,000 or nearly one-in-four Simcoe Muskoka adults (18 years and older) were living with hypertension.
The age-standardized adult (18+) hypertension prevalence rates in Simcoe Muskoka have been similar to the provincial rates since 2009. The adult hypertension prevalence rates have been decreasing, both locally and provincially, since 2012.

Prior to 2015, the prevalence of hypertension was higher among females in Simcoe Muskoka when compared with males. Hypertension prevalence rates have been similar among males and females in Simcoe Muskoka since 2015. While hypertension prevalence rates have been decreasing among both females and males in Simcoe Muskoka since 2012, the rates have been decreasing faster among females.

In 2019, Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) living in areas with the highest amount of material deprivation (as measured by the 2016 Ontario Marginalization Index) had the highest hypertension prevalence rate and those living in areas with the least amount of material deprivation had the lowest rate.

Technical Notes
Information presented on this page is from the report by Refik Saskin and Luis Palma titled Chronic disease trends in Simcoe Muskoka. The report was completed in February of 2023 as part of the response to an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Applied Health Research Question (AHRQ) submitted to the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). The data source citation for counts, rates and other figures extracted from the report is: ICES AHRQ Project 2023 0950 141 000.
This AHQR study was supported by ICES, which is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The opinions, results and conclusions are those of the authors and are independent from the funding and data sources. No endorsement by ICES, the Ontario Ministry of Health, or CIHI is intended or should be inferred. The contents and interpretation of this web page are solely the responsibility of SMDHU.
Page last updated February 6, 2023