OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine the degree of blood pressure (BP) control and the differences in therapeutic strategies adopted by physicians based on patients’ age and/or their functional status. METHODS: Multicenter and cross-sectional study that included patients with essential hypertension attending primary or specialist care, with at least one year of evolution. The study included 6453 patients, stratified into three main groups: A (<65 years) = 2184; B (65-79 years) = 2079; and C (≥80 years) = 2079. RESULTS: 51.3% of patients were male and mean (SD) age was 55.1±7.5 years (group A), 71.4±4.0 (B) and 83.7±3.2 (C). 49.1% of patients were overweight. Mean systolic BP values were 141.3±15.6 (A), 142.0±16.3 (B) and 142.3±16.8 (C) mmHg, and mean diastolic BP values were 84.5±10.1 (A), 81.5±10.5, 79.9±11.2 (C) mmHg. 33.5% of patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus and 59.1% dyslipidemia. The existence of previous cardiovascular (CVD) or renal disease has been established in 38.9% of cases. The prevalence of CVD was 22.6% (A), 39.1% (B) and 55.9% (C). Target organ damage (TOD) was 26.7% (A), 40.8% (B) and 57.8% (C). The Barthel index that measures a person's daily functioning reflected that the oldest group had a significantly higher level of moderate or severe dependence (p<0.0001). Patients with controlled BP were 29.4% (A), 25.5% (B) and 23.7% (C) (p<0.0001). Clinical inertia –the failure to intensify therapy in patients who do not achieve the clinical objectives– reached 60.3% (A), 61.7% (B) and 66.2% (C) (p=0.0002), respectively. Global treatment compliance was 94.3%, and the difficulty for taking the medication significantly increased with patients’ age (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Older hypertensive patients have a poorer BP control but an increased clinical inertia. These patients have higher prevalence of TOD and CVD, worse functional status and worse treatment compliance.