Blood pressure development and characteristics of subjects with moderate blood pressure elevation. A two-year follow-up study in a random population sample.

. In an ongoing multifactor primary preventive trial in Goteborg, Sweden, one third of all men born in 1918–19 were invited to a screening examination including history-taking and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) measurement. The screening examination was attended by 1427 men (76%). Those who were considered to have “borderline” BP, i.e. SBP 160–175 or DBP 95–115 mmHg, were reexamined two years later regarding BP and HR. Of these 493 subjects 12% were considered hypertensives, i.e. they had SBP>175 or DBP> 115 mmHg or had been put on antihypertensive treatment. If the majority of new cases of hypertension is assumed to come from the borderline group, the incidence of new hypertension in this age (52 y) is about 2%. At the reexamination 39% of the former borderline hypertensives had normal BP. A substantial part of those with borderline BP thus had normalized their BP within two years. Those who developed hypertension were characterized by higher SBP and HR already at the initial screening examination. They also tended to have lower physical activity at work and during leisure, and higher stress experience. These differences were, however, not statistically significant.