MORTALITY FROM STROKE, CORONARY HEART-DISEASE AND ALL CAUSES RELATED TO BLOOD-PRESSURE AND LENGTH OF FOLLOW-UP

Measurements of blood pressure in 52 064 men and women in the city of Bergen, Norway, who were 30 to 89 years in 1963, have been related to mortality occurring in different intervals of the follow-up period fro m 1963 throughout 1983. Blood pressure measurements obtained on one oc casion were highly predictive of both coronary heart disease, stroke a nd all-cause mortality several years after measurements. The relative risk of stroke mortality associated with blood pressure varied little in the first ten to fifteen years, but the predictive power was clearl y lower in the last five years of follow-up. The relative risk of deat h from coronary heart disease was stable in the whole period of follow -up. The risk curves relating coronary heart disease mortality to dias tolic blood pressure in men and women aged 60-79 years at screening ha d the same shape in the first five years as in the rest of the follow- up. No J-shaped association was seen in either time interval.