The present study was undertaken in an attempt to establish the range of normal blood pressure levels in Koreans. A representative group of the working population, consisting of 39,859 persons (23,834 men and 16,025 women) who were able to work regularly on daily duty and who lived in various parts of the country, was studied, using casual blood pressure readings. The arithmetic mean, the standard deviation and the frequency distribution of the blood pressure readings were determined for each sex and for each age group from five to seventy nine years of age. The normal range was assumed to include the 80% of all the readings which were within 40% of either side of the mean. Any blood pressure which the mean was considered to be abnormal. The readings falling between these two limits were regarded as borderline. The limits of normal blood pressure, as determined by this method, were found definitely to vary with age and sex. The effect of body weight on the blood pressure was investigated. It was found that the systolic and diastolic blood pressure were progressively increased with the increase in body weight regardless of sex and age. The incidence of systolic hypertension was 6.0% in adult males and 6.2% in females, diastolic hypertension occurred 6.8% in males and 5.8% in females. The incidence of hypotension, below 90 mmHg. systolic, was 0.6% in males and 1.7% in females, and below 60 mmHg. diastolic was 6.6% in males and 9.1% in females. A Comparison of the mean blood pressure was made between the rural and the urban population of Koreans. The mean blood pressure readings in the urban population are higher than those in the rural population, both in systolic and diastolic blood pressures and in all age groups. A comparison of the mean blood pressure also was made between Koreans and Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Filippinos and Indians. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure in Americans (U.S.A.) is higher than that in Koreans. Those in the Japanese and Chinese are similar until the age of fifty, from the age of fifty, the pressures are higher than those in Koreans. The blood pressure of Filippinos is similar to the blood pressure of Koreans all through the age groups. In Indians, pressures are lower than in Koreans.
Adult ; Male ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence