Blood-pressure and mortality in a rural Jamaican community

1065 men and women aged 35--64 years living in rural Jamaica were first examined in 1962--1963, re-examined 5 and 10 years later, and followed-up until 1976. Overall mortality in 13 years, taking into account blood-pressures at all 3 surveys, showed that mortality was significantly increased only at pressures above 180 mm Hg systolic or 110 mm Hg diastolic. It was estimated that without this degree of hypertension the total number of deaths between the ages of 45 and 69 years would have been reduced by about 17%. Unlike other reports, mortality showed no significant association with lower levels of blood-pressure; this difference may be due to a lower incidence in this community of coronary and cerebral thrombosis. The relation between blood-pressure and mortality cannot be assumed to be identical in populations with different profiles of cardiovascular pathology.