Fifty-year Time Trends in Blood Pressures, Body Mass Index and their Relations in a Japanese Community: The Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS)

Aim Data for long-term trends in blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and their relations are needed to set future intervention priorities for prevention of cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to investigate these trends revealed by repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted from 1963 to 2013 in a Japanese community. Methods Men and women aged 40-79 years who participated in annual cardiovascular checkups were enrolled, and the number of participants ranged between 1,776 and 2,366 with consistently high participation rates for both sexes aged 60-69 years. Sex- and age-specific mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were calculated using mixed effects modeling for repeated measurement, and the prevalence of hypertension with and without obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) were also calculated. Results Sex- and age-specific mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures declined irrespective of antihypertensive medication use in both men and women from 1963-1966 to 2009-2013, while mean BMI increased among men of all ages and women of ages 60-69 and 70-79 years. For both sexes aged 60-69 years, the prevalence of hypertension with obesity increased, but the prevalence of hypertension without obesity was still higher that with obesity. Conclusions Despite the transition to increased BMI levels, targeting non to obese hypertension remains important in addition to targeting obese hypertension for cardiovascular disease prevention.