Adults are more likely to have their blood pressure under control if they visit their doctor at least twice a year, a new study has found.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, causes silent damage to the blood vessels and the heart. If left untreated, this damage progresses over time and may cause a range of problems such as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

It is also a leading case of heart attack and stroke.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). A healthy blood pressure should be around 120/80mmHg. If the first number (systolic) is higher than 140 or the second number (diastolic) is higher than 90, this is considered high.

US researchers assessed data on 37,000 adults who had their blood pressure checked between 1999 and 2012.

After controlling for certain factors that are known to affect blood pressure, such as body mass index (BMI), diabetes and smoking, the study found that visits to the doctor were the strongest predictor of blood pressure control.

In fact, people who visited their doctor a minimum of two times per year were at least three times more likely to keep control of their blood pressure compared to people who visited their doctor once a year or less.

The researchers noted that even obese people had better control of their blood pressure if they regularly visited their doctor. They said this is ‘probably because doctors recognise the need to control risk factors and may be quicker to give them blood pressure medications'.

Meanwhile the study also found that people were more likely to have better control of their blood pressure if they had private health insurance and they received treatment for high cholesterol.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Circulation.

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