Blood pressure in subjects from rural Greece, comparing individuals migrating to Melbourne, Australia with non-migrant relatives.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in 525 individuals who had migrated from rural Greece to Melbourne, Australia with those in 367 nonmigrant relatives (all aged 30 to 59 years and still living in the source area), and to relate any differences to previously identified correlates of BP. This migrant family design offers enhanced environmental heterogeneity while controlling in large part for genetic and other familial factors. Migrating siblings differed from nonmigrating siblings on some variables determined at the time of migration but these were not independently associated with BP. Migrants had been in Australia for an interquartile range of 19..