Pre-hypertension and Hypertension inSchool Children Aged 8 to 17 Years inSouthern India: A Community BasedStudy

摘要

Pre Hypertension (pre HT) and Hypertension (HT) in childhood have strong association with cardiovascular disease in adult life. There is scarcity of this data in Indian scenario.Aim: To determine the prevalence of HT and pre HT in school children between 8 to 17 years, in a rural set up. An attempt was also made to determine correlation between Blood Pressure (BP) and other risk factors like Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference, family history of HT and diabetes mellitus.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, community based observational model, comprising of 500 healthy students, between 8 to 17 years of age, was adopted. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to obtain socio-demographic details which were filled by the parents. Mean Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and/or Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) greater than or equal to the 95 percentile for that particular sex, age, and height was defined as HT. Pre HT was considered when average SBP or DBP levels that were higher than or equal to the 90th percentile, but lower than the 95th percentile. Height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference and BP were measured using prior validated and standard tools.Results: Prevalence of pre HT was 4.2% and HT was 3.4%. BMI among the students with elevated blood pressure (pre HT and HT) and normotensives was 17.088251±2.88 and 19.796462±3.76 respectively. The Pearson's (r) correlation between SBP and BMI was 0.349 (p<0.0001). The r-value for DBP and BMI was 0.249 (p<0.00001), implying a significant positive correlation between BP and BMI. Similar significant positive correlation was observed for weight, waist circumference and BP. However, no relationship was observed between family history of hypertension, family history of diabetes mellitus and BP.Conclusion: Pre HT and HT is an important public health problem in children and adolescence. Increased BMI is a major risk factor for childhood HT. Early identification and prevention will help reduce long term consequences due to HT.