Systolic blood pressure percentile curves for rural Japanese men and women aged 20 to 79 years in 1980 and 2005

Objective: To establish systolic blood pressure (SBP) percentile curves for adult Japanese men and women, and to compare the curves obtained for the years of 1980 and 2005. Methods: We analyzed data from 8,080 and 5,616 community residents aged 20 to 79 years who had an annual health check-up in 1980 and in 2005, respectively. Age-specific percentile curves for SBP were constructed by using the LMS method. We plotted the 3rd, 5th, 15th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 95th and 97th percentile curves and compared the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile curves for 1980 and 2005. Results: The SBP percentile values increased with advancing age in both sexes. The 5th, 50th and 95th SBP percentile values were higher for men than for women in 1980 and in 2005, particularly among young adults. Furthermore, the 5th, 50th and 95th SBP percentile values largely decreased from 1980 to 2005 in both sexes. Conclusion: We established SBP percentile curves and confirmed SBP percentile values for 1980 and 2005 by age and sex.