AGING WITHOUT IMPAIRMENT AND DISEASE - COHORT STUDY .1. BASE-LINE COHORT CHARACTERISTICS

The population groups living on islands of Brac and Hvar, and in continental areas Sinjska Krajina and Srijem, examined during the period between 1970 and 1971 in the epidemiological investigation, have been considered a baseline cohort population for assessing the ageing process. Epidemiological characteristics of the population, described by three sets of variables, have been estimated through the factor score distributions for each of the variable sets and the corresponding variability for each region. The main differences as well as variability were found between the island populations (characterized by tendency to overweight, preferably by vegetable oil consumption, lower alcohol intake and lower blood pressure with higher blood glucose) and the continental populations (characterized in opposite way). Sinjska Krajina is showing the highest blood pressure factor scores and Brae the highest cholesterol and triglyceride factor scores. Anthropologically the population of Hvar is the tallest and of more lateral body type.