Blood Pressure and Twenty-year Mortality in the City of Bergen, Norway

A blood pressure survey was carried out in 1963 in the city of Bergen, Norway. The relation between 20-year mortality and blood pressure in 52,064 participants aged 30-89 years at examination was analyzed. Increased blood pressure was related to increased mortality from coronary heart disease, stroke, and all causes in all age groups except the oldest, where a more irregular pattern was present. The relative risks decreased with age at screening, while the absolute increase in mortality with increasing blood pressure was greatest in persons aged 60-69 or 70-79 years at screening. A log-linear relation between systolic blood pressure and coronary heart disease and stroke mortality was seen in both men and women. An upturn in total mortality at low systolic blood pressures was suggested in the groups aged 60 years or more at screening. An upturn, or leveling off, was also seen at low diastolic blood pressures for total deaths and stroke deaths in both men and women.