A sampling study of blood pressure levels in White and Negro residents of Nassau, Bahamas

Abstract

Results of a study of blood pressure levels in Negro and white residents of Nassau, Bahamas, have been presented. Persons for study were selected by means of probability sample design. The purpose of the study was to describe as accurately as possible the differing patterns of blood pressure with regard to race, age, and sex. The site was selected because of the opportunity to study the two races in a somewhat different environment and perhaps mode of life than previously reported by others. Also, the water supply of the area is known to be high in salt. The following facts were disclosed: 1. 1. A definite racial difference is seen. The pattern of progression of blood pressure with age is almost linear in the Negro. The white race, however, shows a flattening or “plateau” effect from the time adult ages are reached until middle life, when mean blood pressure again tends to rise. This is seen in the means of both systolic and diastolic pressure, but most noticeably in regard to the systolic. 2. 2. Sex differences are shown. Women of both races have lower mean systolic pressures during the reproductive years than men of their race. Negro men have slightly but consistently higher mean diastolic pressures than women almost throughout life. 3. 3. Comparison with population studies elsewhere leads to the conclusion that Bahamian Negroes resemble Negroes elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere and Bahamian white persons resemble white people in other geographic locations in regard to blood pressure. A particularly provocative comparison is that of Bahamian Negroes with Negroes in St. Kitts (Leeward Islands), 8 since blood pressure patterns appear similar, despite high salt intake in the Bahamas and low salt intake in St. Kitts.