Influence of parental history of hypertension on blood pressure

Aim: To assess the effect of parental history of hypertension on blood pressure in representative samples from three French populations (MONICA centres of Lille, Strasbourg, Toulouse). Methods: We screened 1660 males and 1635 females, aged 35-64 years. Subjects were defined as hypertensive if systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 160 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 95 mm Hg or if they were treated by antihypertensive drugs. Four groups of parental history were determined: no parental history; at least one parent hypertensive before 60 years; hypertension was diagnosed after 60; and hypertension with unknown age of discovery. A logistic regression model was used separately for each sex. Results: After adjustment for age, body mass index, physical exercise, educational level, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, centre, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolaemia, parental history before age 60 was related to offspring's hypertension: OR = 2.09 (95% CI: 1.42-3.09) in men, and OR = 2.77 (95% CI: 1.95-3.93) in women. This relationship was stronger when we compared two parental histories versus none (women: OR = 5.33, 95% CI: 1.30-21.94; men: OR = 7.78, 95% CI: 2.45-24.74). Conclusion: In this representative cross-sectional study, history of hypertension in at least one parent was associated with offspring's hypertension.