XI, B, 3 Concepcion and Bulatao : Blood Pressure of Filipinos 137 



Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 87 for males and between 

 16 and 45 for females. Of 697 male subjects examined, 585 

 were convicts in Bilibid Prison and 117 were medical students, 

 nurses, or instructors in the College of Medicine and Surgery. 

 Of the 218 females, 128 were convicts and only 90 were nurses 

 and medical students. 



Table I. — Summary of cases examined for blood pressure. 



Persons examined. 



Males. 



Females. 



Total. 





585 

 112 



128 

 90 



713 

 202 





Total . .- ... - - 



697 



218 



915 



Cases used in this report 



536 



67 



9 



77 

 8 



181 

 36 



717 

 103 



9 

 78 



8 



Cases not read . 



Cases apparently sick _ . 



Opiate addicts and strangers _ 



1 



Miscellaneous _ _ . ._ __ 



Total 









915 









BLOOD-PRESSURE APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE 



The apparatus used for all of these determinations was the 

 original Erlanger(6) sphygmomanometer; to this we attached a 

 signal magnet to mark exactly the fall of pressure in the mer- 

 cury column to facilitate the reading. 



All the determinations were made on the right arm of the 

 subject, who was seated so that the cuff of the sphygmomano- 

 meter was approximately on the level of the heart to eliminate 

 the effect of hydrostatic pressure. After the signal-magnet 

 lever and the sphygmomanometer lever were put in vertical align- 

 ment, the pressure was raised until the radial pulse was no 

 longer perceptible. Pressure was generally raised well above 

 the maximum and then lowered by the continuous escapement 

 method. (6) We used this method in all our observations for two 

 reasons: it is less troublesome and less painful to the subject 

 and it is quicker than, and just as accurate as, the intermittent- 

 escapement method. The appearance of the radial pulse was 

 noted, and in this way a comparative record of the systolic pres- 

 sure was obtained — one shown by the appearance of the pulse, 

 and the other by the tracing on the apparatus. We felt the 

 pulse at a pressure of from 1 to 15 or even 20 millimeters of 

 mercury lower than the systolic pressure as indicated by the 

 graphic method. 



