We observed 1104 subjects of the Portuguese population coming from two northern adjacent cities: Guimarães and Vizela. They were randomly selected to be included in a cohort representative of age and gender distribution. We evaluated their blood pressure (BP) (mean three measurements), height, weight, lipidic profile, fasting glucose, HbA1c, serum creatinine, microalbuminuria (occasional sample) and CBP measurements (Sphygmocor®).

These 1104 subjects (56,4% females), had a mean global age of 47,6 years (18 – 94); 42% had hypertension, 10,7% had Diabetes, 80% had lipidic profile abnormalities, 3,1% had GFR < 60ml/min and 16,1% had microalbuminuria. The mean brachial systolic BP was 131,3 mmHg (84 to 243) and the mean brachial diastolic BP was 76,7 mmHg (44 to 128); The average BMI was 26,8 kg/m2 (16,8 to 46,2).

Mean global CBP (cSBP/cDBP) values recorded were 119/77 mmHg, with a mean Central Pulse Pressure (cPP) of 42 mmHg. Mean CBP values (cSBP/cDBP) recorded by age classes were: 18 to 30 years – 101/71 mmHg (81/50 to136/100), cPP – 30 mmHg; 31 to 40 years – 109/76 mmHg (80/57 to 162/105), cPP – 32 mmHg; 41 to 50 years – 121/82 mmHg (88/54 to 224/131), cPP – 39 mmHg; 51 to 60 years – 125/83 mmHg (90/58 to 163/113), cPP – 43mmHg; 61 to 70 years – 134/79 mmHg (96/55 to 198/112), cPP – 55 mmHg; 71 to 80 years – 137/78 mmHg (91/48 to 202/104), cPP – 59 mmHg; 81 to 90 years – 141/76 mmHg (93/57 to 194/100), cPP – 65 mmHg. These are, to our knowledge, the first CBP measurements performed on a population based cohort in Portugal.