The association of blood lead and blood pressure in population surveys

The association of age, body weight, body mass index (BMI) and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) to blood pressure in the general population of the Ho-long area in Taiwan was examined. A total of 1341 subjects, 746 men and 595 women, aged 40-90 years, were studied. Sex-specific multiple regression analyses were carried out on variables both univariately and significantly associated with blood pressure. Results show HbA1c to be significantly associated with SBP in both males and females before age, weight and/or BMI are adjusted (p < 0.05). After controlling for these confounders, the strength of SBP-HbA1c association was slightly reduced in males, but remained significant. In contrast, there was no significance in females. Moreover, no significant relationship in DBP-HbA1c was found in either sex group. These findings suggest that although a positive correlation was found between HbA1c and SBP, HbA1c or glucose status appeared to be a less important contributing factor in hypertension than age or body weight.