The aim of the present epidemiological study was to recognize the distribution of blood pressure (BP) and the prevalence of arterial hypertension (AH) in the aged (> or = 70 years) population in Cracow. The data were obtained from the studied group of 512 persons (153 men and 359 women) which corresponds to 72.4% of the randomly chosen group. The mean systolic BP was 159.7 in males and 164.3 mmHg in females (p < 0.05). Diastolic BP was 86.3 mmHg and 87.3 mmHg (n.s.), respectively. We observed the single peaked distribution of BP. According to the WHO epidemiological criteria of AH (BP > or = 160 = 95 mmHg) hypertension was found in 60.6% (49.7% M and 64.8% F) with systolic AH 32.3%, systolic+diastolic in 25.4% and diastolic AH alone in 2.9% of this group.