Prevalence of ischaemic heart disease risk factors in male populations aged 45-54 years in Warsaw and Bratislava. Part II: Hypertension.
The aim of the study was to determine the distribution of blood pressure and to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension in the Polish and Slovak populations. This report is a continuation of searching for causes of different ischaemic heart disease death rates observed in both compared populations. The studied male population aged 45-54 years consists of 2944 men from Warsaw (response rate 88.4%) and of 698 men from Bratislava's factories (response rate 64.5%). The mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the 45-49 years group was significantly higher in Warsaw than in Bratislava although the prevalence of hypertension was similar in both populations in this age-group. In the older group the mean systolic blood pressure was similar in both populations but the mean diastolic pressure and the prevalence of hypertension were higher in Bratislava. The prevalence of hypertension was found to be similar to the rates observed in some other industrialized countries. The authors conclude that the finding of high proportions of hypertension in both populations proves that hypertension control is unsatisfactory, which has been confirmed by the results of additional investigations carried out in Warsaw.