DISTRIBUTION AND MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN 10,000 ISRAELI MEN1

Abstract
Sive, P. H., (Ischemic Heart Disease Project, P.O. Box 2631, Jerusalem, Israel), J. H. Medalie, H. A. Kahn, H. N. Neufeld and E. Riss. Distribution and multiple regression analysis of blood pressure in 10, 000 Israeli men. Amer J Epidem 93: 317–327, 1971.—Blood pressure distribution of 10, 000 male Israeli government and municipal employees aged 40 and over examined in 1963 in the Israel Ischemic Heart Disease Project show curves which rise with age, more steeply for systolic pressure than for diastolic pressure closely resembling those of various populations in the United States and Europe. Despite marked differences in ways of life among the regional birth groups, there is a remarkable similarity in their blood pressure distributions. Multiple regression analysis relating systolic pressure to 18 biological and environmental variables showed that 14 of these were together significantly responsible for 21.6% of systolic pressure variance in the total population. The variables age and pulse rate, and to a lesser extent, myo-cardial ischemia on ECG and a weight-height ratio accounted for significant percentages of variance in all areas of birth. Among the regional birth groups, the percentage variance in systolic pressure explained by the variables studied ranged from 16.6% to 29.0%. This fact and the differing relative importance of a number of variables within these groups indicate the need for further studies including other environmental as well as hereditary factors in multivariate analysis of blood pressure in polyethnic population groups.