[Prevalence of high normal blood pressure and progression to hypertension in a population sample of La Plata].

In 1985 we investigated the prevalence of high normal blood pressure in 6387 inhabitants (range 15-75 years old) of the city of La Plata and its progression to arterial hypertension after four years. High normal blood pressure was defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) < 140 mmHg and diastolic BP between 85-89 mmHg (average value of two measurements) on one occasion. Arterial hypertension was defined as a systolic BP > or = 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP > or = 90 mmHg, both as an average of two measurements on two occasions. High normal BP prevalence was 6.62%, being higher in men than in women (p < 0.0005, Table 1). General progression to hypertension was 41.79%, being higher in the older individuals (p < 0.0005). Of the 423 individuals with high normal BP (Table 2), 268 (63.36%) were found in 1989 (Table 3). They had an incidence of hypertension of 10.45% per year, also higher in older subjects (Table 4). There were no differences between sexes. Subjects with high normal BP who subsequently developed hypertension had higher systolic BP in 1985 than those who remained normotensive (p < 0.001, Table 5). Most of them progressed to mild diastolic hypertension (29.48%) or borderline isolated systolic hypertension (6.72%, Fig. 1). In this study, progression to arterial hypertension was higher than that reported in similar studies for general population in other countries.