Poland and US collaborative study on cardiovascular epidemiology. I. Introduction and baseline findings.

The Poland-US Agreement for Health Cooperation has as its goal the sharing of scientific information in cardiovascular disease epidemiology between the two countries. Patterns of cardiovascular disease and identification of risk factors were investigated through two large epidemiologic studies, the Pol-Monica Study in Poland and the US Lipid Research Clinics Program Prevalence Study in the United States. These two studies are described with regard to methodological issues, comparability of data collection procedures, and demographic and behavioral characteristics of the two populations involved.

[Results of blood pressure measurements depending on the place and method of measurement in individuals with normal blood pressure and borderline hypertension].

The analysis of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure measurements in 2 positions (sitting, standing) X 2 subsequent measurements (order) X 2 places (right, left arm) was performed on the basis of the Pol-Monica I screening conducted in 1984 yr. There were 1309 examined men and 1327 women aged 35-64 yrs. The mean values of 2 measurements taken in the sitting position on the right arm were used for division of the total sample into 7 categories: 1.