This project is concerned with optimal management and scientific description of the total population, which includes, as of 8/1/91, 1138 active participants (454 women; 684 men), 435 inactive (137 women; 298 men), and 523 deceased (39 women; 484 men). Consistent with a BLSA Steering Committee recommendation, the NIA is now committed to a sample size of women equivalent to that of the men. Women comprise 40% of the total active sample and, since 1978, when women first entered the Study, fill 64% of first-visit slots. To achieve equal numbers of men and women will require recruitment of 200 additional women. However, until additional resources are available to carry out this recommendation (including space), both men and women will continue to be recruited according to long range goals for sample size established in 1987. (See Project Description). That goal, however, does not provide adequate numbers for dividing women according to hormonal status, and, because of their lower morbidity and mortality, more women are needed to provide numbers of endpoints similar to those of men. A 1991 Gerontological Society of America paper will describe gender differences in some demographic variables related to health in the presence of hypertension.
