Correspondence between screening and intra-arterial blood pressures in young men with borderline hypertension

To evaluate the screening blood pressure (BP) for identification of individuals with a mild but persistent elevation of BP referred to as borderline hypertension (BH).

Based on screening data from approximately 10,500 men at a military enlistment centre in 1987; an unbiased population sample of young men were recruited. Blood pressure follow-up and investigation of anthropometric and metabolic data were made at Ostra Hospital.

Men aged 19.8 years (range 17-28) were screened. Three hundred and six were found to have elevated BP (systolic BP (SBP) > 145 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) > or = 85 mmHg). Of these, 179 were re-examined after 1-3 years, by which time three individuals exceeded the limits for established hypertension and 80 fulfilled the BP criteria for BH (in two out of two blood pressure measurements). Fifty-four of these BH individuals were investigated with intra-arterial (i.a.) BP measurements. A normotensive control (NC) group (SBP 110-130 and DBP 60-80 mmHg; n = 20) from the same population was examined concomitantly.

At screening, at the 2-year clinic follow-up and again during the intra-arterial recording, SBP was significantly different in BH vs. NC. With DBP an increasing difference between the groups was observed with time. There were highly significant correlations between screening and 2-year clinic BP (r = 0.72, P < 0.001; n = 74) and screening and i.a. BP (r = 0.57, P < 0.001; n = 74).

These data show that there is a correspondence between BP at the screening procedure and i.a. BP measured 2 years later, indicating that the screening procedure is a useful way of identifying young men with mild but persistent BP elevation. This interpretation is supported by metabolic and biochemical differences between the groups.