Even though nearly two-thirds of patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure had high or very high cardiovascular disease risk and risk factors, nearly a third of their primary care doctors felt the patients did not need a change in their treatment, Spanish researchers found.

"The results show that there is a significant lack of concern among primary care physicians about the importance of hypertension treatment in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease," study author Dr. Antonio Coca of the Hypertension Unit, Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona, said in a prepared statement.

The findings were expected to be presented Friday at the American Society of Hypertension's annual scientific meeting, in New York City.

The study of more than 1,400 people with treated but still uncontrolled hypertension found that 34.5 percent were at very high risk of cardiovascular disease and 29.4 percent were at high risk. There was also a high prevalence of associated cardiovascular risk factors, such as: overweight (53.7 percent); high cholesterol (52.2 percent); diabetes (39.5 percent); and family history of cardiovascular disease (15.7 percent).

One-fifth of the patients had left ventricular hypertrophy (enlarged heart) and 12.8 percent had microalbuminuria -- an indicator of underlying cardiovascular disease, study found.

Even though they had high blood pressure that wasn't controlled with treatment, 41.6 percent of the patients were still being treated with a single antihypertensive drug and only 45 percent of their doctors recommended a change in their drug treatment, such as increasing the dose of the current single drug or adding an additional drug and/or prescribing a fixed combination compound.

The study also found that 30 percent of doctors did not feel a change in treatment was needed; 65 percent suggested that patients improve compliance with lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise; and 56 percent asked patients to come in for a new control visit within 2 to 3 weeks.