Blood Pressure in a Rural West Bengal Fishing Community: An Epidemiologic Profile

Blood pressure readings were collected from the inhabitants of a small fishing village in West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measure- ments, pulse rate, and interview data on demography, occupation, edua- tion, smoking and alcohol use were also collected. Sex differences in blood pressure are not significant in this population, although significant age trends do exist. Some anthropometric variables have low but statistically significant correlations with adult blood pressure, particularly for diastolic pressure in females. Smoking behavior in adult males has an inverse associa­tion with blood pressure, but not with anthropometric variables or pulse rate. Educational level, which may reflect socio-economic differences in males, has a significant positive association with blood pressure, height, weight, and subscapular skinfold thickness. When the effects of an­thropometries, smoking, and education on blood pressure were assessed simultaneously through stepwise multiple regression, only educational level entered the regression equation for systolic pressure and only smoking pre­dicted diastolic pressure in males. In females, anthropometric variables alone predict blood pressure, however there is extremely little variability in female education and smoking behavior. The results for men suggest that education and smoking exert opposite effects on blood pressure in this population, and that they do not operate primarily through their effect on body size or fatness