Blood pressure and hypertension in an elderly population.
In order to study the epidemiology of hypertension in the elderly and its relationship to other disease situations, a study was performed on 815 institutionalized elderly people indicating a statistically significant decrease of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure with age. There is a difference between the population originating in Europe and America and those from Asia and Africa; in the latter group the blood pressure values were significantly higher, specially in females. The prevalence of hypertension as a disease does not differ between younger and older age groups. The lower prevalence in the population studied (28.1%) when compared to data in the literature which indicates prevalence of about 40%, might be due to the fact that the institution population live under sheltered conditions and close medical follow up. In conclusion hypertension in the elderly serves as a major risk factor for several disease situations thus leading to a better survival for those with lower values of blood pressure.
Strulov
A
A
Department of Family and Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
Epstein
L
L
Harth
A
A
Tamir
A
A
D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology