[Relationship between development of hypertension and a family history of high blood pressure in urban residents-analysis based on results of annual health examinations, 1984 to 1998].

UNLABELLED: Relationship between development of hypertension and a family history of high blood pressure in urban residents-analysis based on results of annual health examinations, 1984 to 1998. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the relationship between development of hypertension and a family history of this condition in urban residents. METHODS: Findings from a 15-year follow-up study of annual health examinations carried out in a community adjoining Osaka city, from 1984 to 1998, were analyzed. Any person who indicated in a self-administered questionnaire that they had either a parent or a sibling with hypertension was considered as having a family history of hypertension. RESULTS: In each year analyzed, mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, by both sex and age group, was generally higher for those with a family history of hypertension than those without. We examined the proportion of people with such a family history and found that among those who received examinations for 5 consecutive years, the number of times at which the proved normotensive was generally lower than in the control group. When we looked at the odds ratio for hypertension according to combinations of family history, obesity, and use of alcohol, those with all three risk factors had the largest values in each year, followed by those with a family history plus obesity, but without drinking. The population attributable risks were 6.6%-16.0% for family history in men and 6.6%-18.4% in women, 6.0%-18.1% and 9.0%-25.2% for obesity and 3.5%-29.4% and 0.3%-4.0% for drinking. These results show that the tree-distributions of normotensiven (optimal, normal, high-normal) were normotensive overall the first time (1984), and for those who received examinations in 1993 and 1998, hazard ratios with a positive family history were higher than with a negative family history. CONCLUSIONS: The main new findings of this study are that the incidence of hypertension is significantly higher in people with a family history of the disease than in those without, and looking at odds ratios for population attributable risk, family history proved to be a factor almost as important for high blood pressure as obesity and drinking. The results indicate family history is a significant risk factor for hypertension.