In brief: Responses to a questionnaire given to physicians and clinic directors in the Salt Lake City area indicated the current practices in treating essential hypertension. The most common treatment was step-care drug therapy, although some used exercise as a treatment modality. The authors concluded that: (1) the value of exercise in treating hypertension is not completely understood; (2) the undesirable side effects of drug therapy suggest a closer examination of nonpharmacological treatment; (3) borderline or labile hypertensives are often not treated without specific indications; and (4) exercise physiologists might be helpful to physicians who want to use exercise therapy for their hypertensive patients.