Table I.

Classification of Blood Pressure for Adults Aged 18 Years and Older, and Distribution of Blood Pressure Category in Study Participants

	Blood Pressure (mm Hg)			Participants in This Category at Baseline
Category*	Systolic		Diastolic	n	%
Optimal	<120	and	<80	0	0
Normal†	<130	and	<85	104	27
High‐normal†	130–139	or	85–89	131	33
Hypertension
Stage 1	140–159	or	90–99	155	40
Stage 2	160–179	or	100–109	…	…
Stage 3	≥180	or	≥110	…	…
Total				390	100
*If systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure categories are discordant, choose the higher category; †the seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure has designated these patients as prehypertensive. 6 Adapted with permission from Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:2413–2446. 2