Percentile reference values of arterial blood pressure for individuals aged 20 to 60 years from Plovdiv region

In the course of an epidemiological screening of a Plovdiv region contingent we determined the percentiles of arterial blood pressure of 1458 men and 1146 women (aged 20 to 60 years) selected at random using the SPSS/PC+ program. The derived values for the 75th percentile of the systolic arterial blood pressure for men over 30 years of age and for women aged over 35 years form a group of high-normal systolic arterial blood pressure; for men over 35 years and women over 40 years a first class arterial hypertension is formed at the 75th percentile (USA, 1995). The reference values of the 75th and 90th percentiles of the systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure rise step-like in men and steeply in women. After 50 years of age the reference values of systolic arterial blood pressure displayed a prevalence in women whereas those of the diastolic arterial blood pressure prevailed in men.