Open AccessPrevalence of Hypertension in 9‐ to 10‐Year‐Old Icelandic School Children
Author(s) -
Steinthorsdottir Sandra D.,
Eliasdottir Sigridur B.,
Indridason Olafur S.,
Agustsdottir Inger M.,
Palsson Runolfur,
Edvardsson Vidar O.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-7176.2011.00496.x
Subject(s) - medicine , icelandic , percentile , white coat hypertension , body mass index , blood pressure , obesity , ambulatory , pediatrics , ambulatory blood pressure , masked hypertension , philosophy , linguistics , statistics , mathematics
J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich) . 2011;13:774–779. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The purpose of the study was to investigate blood pressure (BP) distribution, prevalence of hypertension, and correlation between BP and body mass index (BMI) in 9‐ to 10‐year‐old Icelandic children. Two manual and two automated BP measurements were performed in 1071 Icelandic children. Children with elevated BP underwent a second BP screening, and a third screening was performed if the BP was elevated at the second visit. Hypertension was defined as BP ≥95th percentile at all three visits. White‐coat hypertension was diagnosed in hypertensive children with normal 24‐hour ambulatory BP. Of 970 children with complete data, 489 were girls (50.4%). The mean BP was 111/63 mm Hg in girls and 112/64 mm Hg in boys ( P <.001). The prevalence of elevated BP was 13.1%, 6.0%, and 3.1% after the first, second, and third screen, respectively. The prevalence of sustained hypertension was 2.5% and an additional 0.6% had white‐coat hypertension. A significant correlation between BMI and BP was observed ( r =0.338, P <.001) and 8.6% of the obese children had hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension in 9‐ to 10‐year‐old Icelandic children is lower than indicated in recent reports and is associated with obesity.