Table 1.
Participant characteristics: data from 3 British birth cohort studies and 21 repeated cross-sectional English studies
| Birth cohort study in midlife (43–46 years), year of outcome measurement (birth year) | Repeated cross-sectional study (≥ 25 years), year of outcome measurement | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 (1946) | 2003 (1958) | 2016 (1970) | 1994 | 2003 | 2016 | |
| Outcomes | ||||||
| Sample size | 3186 | 8610 | 6861 | 11,427 | 7910 | 3981 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mean (SD) mmHg* | 125.8 (15.5) | 126.4 (17.0) | 124.1 (15.5) | 133.6 (18.3) | 129.9 (19.1) | 125.9 (17.2) |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mean (SD) mmHg* | 81.6 (10.4) | 78.8 (11.2) | 77.1 (11.2) | 75.1 (8.9) | 74.9 (11.5) | 73.5 (11.3) |
| Hypertension, %** | 23.8% | 28.4% | 24.5% | 35.5% | 33.8% | 31.6% |
| Blood pressure-lowering medication, % | 3.8% | 6.1% | 8.1% | 13.5% | 14.3% | 17.9% |
| Socioeconomic data | ||||||
| Social class at birth–4years, % manual | 74.4% | 72.7% | 70.8% | – | – | – |
| Own education attainment, % degree | 6.6% | 8.4% | 24.1% | 11.1% | 19.3% | 32.0% |
With valid BP, medication, and SEP data
*Observed BP values (i.e. not adjusted for use of antihypertensive medication); HSE sample size is unweighted, and estimates are weighted
**Hypertension: SBP/DBP ≥ 140/90 mmHg and/or on BP-lowering medication