Arterial Hypertension in Correlation with Age and Body Mass Index in Some Occupational Groups in the Harbour of Rijeka, Croatia.

The research was carried out among 3787 workers in the harbour of Rijeka (Croatia), divided into six professional groups: harbour-transportation workers, administration staff, warehouse and assistant workers, artisans, motor vehicles drivers and seamen aboard the tugboats. The prevalence of arterial hypertension (AH) in relation to age and body mass index (BMI) was analysed. Significant correlation between prevalence of AH and age (r = 0.97) and between prevalence of AH and BMI (r = 0.98) was proven. Prevalence of AH for all the subjects was 10.6%. The lowest prevalence (7.3%) was established for harbour-transportation workers, who were the youngest on average and who were of lowest mean value of BMI. The highest prevalence of AH (16.6%) was for the warehouse and assistant workers, who were the oldest on average and were of highest mean value of BMI. Those differences were statistically significant in relation to other groups but in relation to the average age and the average values for those professional groups they fitted into the expected values. Results did not confirm positive relationship between potentially harmful working conditions of the surveyed professions and the development of AH. Age and BMI as reliable predictors of AH were pointed out.