2 at random, on a basis of a computerized system elaborated and applied by a company specialized in research. The structure of the population aged ≥18, according to sex, in each location, was obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics, having as a source document the census made in 2002. The addresses of interviewing were selected from the database of the General Direction of Computerized Evidence of the Population. Consequently, we were able to ﬁnd out that in a speciﬁc location there is a person, male or female, aged of certain years. It is worth noticing that, using this procedure, we did not reach a person with a precise identity; we found out a subject with certain demographic characteristics, with respect to the Law no. 677/2001 on protection of persons regarding the processing of personal data and their free circulation in Romania. On the whole, 2131 subjects agreed to participate in the study, to have the blood pressure measured, and to ﬁll in the medical history questionnaires. Among these, 2017 have accepted also the collection of blood samples. Specially trained nurses obtained data for the respon- dents at the patients’ home. During the visit, the nurse had to obtain the informed consent for the participation in the study, to complete the questionnaire, and to measure the arterial blood pressure, weight, height, and waist circumfer- ence. The BP was measured at each arm with fully automatic devices (oscillometric pressameters OMRON M5-I), adapted for the arm circumference. The highest value between the two arms was that of reference. If at the initial visit the BP was elevated and the subject was not known with arterial hypertension, two more visits for BP measurement were mandated to conﬁrm the abnormal values, at one-to-three day interval. Three measurements of BP had to be done at each visit with at least three minutes pause between the consecutive readings, ignoring the ﬁrst one and calculating the average between the last two of them. The arterial HT was deﬁned as values ≥140 mmHg for the SBP or ≥90 mmHg for the DBP, according to the European Society of Hypertension Guidelines applicable in 2005 [8] and reconﬁrmed by the Guidelines issued in 2007 [9]. Awareness represented the subjects with known arterial hypertension. New diagnosed cases of arterial hypertension were those who have denied a previous diagnosis of hypertension and were found at the initial and at the conﬁrmation visits with high BP. The prevalence of arterial hypertension resulted from the addition of known to the new diagnosed cases. The general control of hypertension was calculated from the ratio of subjects with blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg to the number of hypertensive persons on a whole (known and newly diagnosed). The control of treated hypertension was deduced from the ratio of subjects with blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg to the total number of treated hypertensive persons. International Journal of Hypertension for the whole sample and by comparing speciﬁc categories of population splitted by gender, age groups, and area of residence with the χ2 test. On the analysis of the results, the statistical signiﬁcance was tested with an interval of conﬁdence of 95%, for which the maximum error was of ±2,18% for 2017 respondents. 4. Results The age and gender structure, the repartition of subjects depending on the area of residence, and the mean values of blood pressure are represented in Table 1. We have to mention that Bucharest, the capital, which was analyzed separately from the other nine regions of the country, was included in the urban area, conducting to a higher number of subjects in this category of residence. The mean systolic BP was 137.63 ± 23.43 mmHg, with an important rise for every age group in each gender. The values have continuously increased from 119.99 ± 13.70 mmHg in the youngest age group to 152.76 ± 24.17 mmHg in the age group ≥65 years old. The mean diastolic BP was 83.13 ± 13.12 mmHg, higher with every age group until the age of 55–64 years, but starting to decline in the oldest age group (≥65 years). For both systolic and diastolic BP, the mean level was higher in men than in women for adult subjects, the gender diﬀerence diminishing by the sixth decade. 4.1. Prevalence of Hypertension. The total prevalence of the arterial hypertension was 44,92%, signiﬁcantly higher in men (50,17%) than in women (41,11%) (P < .0001), but with the gender diﬀerence beginning to diminish in the age group of 55–64 years. The frequency of arterial hypertension was augmenting with age, reaching a rate above 70% after 65 years. A greater prevalence of arterial hypertension was observed in the rural area (49,47%) as compared to the urban area (41,58%), which attended statistical signiﬁcance (P < .02) Table 2. 4.2. Awareness of Hypertension. The results regarding the hypertension awareness are resumed in Table 3. The general rate of awareness was 44,26%, increasing with age, higher in women (52,8%) than in men (34,58%) (P < .0006), with the gender diﬀerence being noticed for every age group after 45 years old. No diﬀerences in AHT awareness by area of residence were noticed. 4.3. Treatment of Hypertension. Only 38,85% of the hyper- tensive subjects were receiving speciﬁc treatment. The rate of treated hypertension was again in favor of women (46,56%) in comparison with men (30,11%) (P <.003) Table 4. 3. Statistical Analysis The statistical evaluation was performed with a MEDCALC 9.2.1.0 software. Data about the prevalence, awareness, rate of treatment, and control of hypertension were obtained 4.4. Control of Hypertension. The number of the total hypertensive subjects who were on the target values of BP was 7,72%. The analysis of data regarding the treatment control has revealed a general rate of 19,88%, with no diﬀerences between gender or area of residence Table 4.