Prospective epidemiological study of arterial hypertension under preventive measures.

In the course of five years, arterial hypertension was epidemiologically studied in a population of industrial workers (n = 7883), divided into 3 groups according to the kind of preventive intervention. In the active prevention group a statistically significant improvement of the epidemiological situation was observed. A certain improvement in the percentile distribution of the diastolic pressure level was also attained in the control group in which detected hypertensive persons were referred to routine policlinical care without special cardiological consultation. In the second control group, in which no measures were applied, the indicators of the prevalence of hypertension and of the effectiveness of treatment have worsened. Regression analysis showed a dependence of subsequent values of diastolic pressure on preceding values.