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Analysis of late risk of systemic blood pressures <120/80 mm Hg.

Ananthakrishnan S, Klatsky AL, Udaltsova N, Iribarren C, Guidry U

Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland California, USA.

We studied categories of blood pressure (BP) <120/80 mm Hg as predictors of hypertension 10 to 22 years later by logistic regression analyses with 6 covariates. There was progressively increased risk for subjects with systolic BP 100 to 109 and 110 to 119 mm Hg (vs <100 mm Hg) or diastolic BP 70 to 74 and 75 to 79 mm Hg (vs <70 mm Hg). These relations were similar in men, women, and several ethnic groups but stronger in subjects <40 years old. These data suggest a definition of optimal BP of <100/70 mm Hg, similar to usual BP levels in children <10 years old.

Published 13 December 2004 in Am J Cardiol, 94(12): 1575-6.
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