Objective To evaluate the factors affecting the treatment of old persons diagnosed hypertension. Method A sample of 55566 persons from the community of Yanji area of Shanghai was recruited. Results Among the 19295 persons over sixty there are 5842 patients with hypertension, the morbidity was 30.3%. Among the 36271 persons aged fifteen to fifty-nine there are 3536 patients with hypertension, the morbidity is 9.7%. The ratio of non-treatment in the old age group is 3.1% and in younger group is 8.8%. However,the compliance to the treatment was better in the younger than in old group(73.7% vs 56.2%). The age,hypertension grade and sex were all accounted for the differences in the regularity of the hypertension treatment. Conclusion Further effort on the education of non-old hypertensive patients is essential to decrease the damage from hypertension.