Open AccessPrevalence and factors associated with hypertension among school children and adolescents in urban and semi‐urban areas in Cameroon
Author(s) -
NganouGnindjio Chris Nadège,
Essama Doris Bibi,
Nkeck Jan René,
Tchebegna Patrick Yvan,
Tchatchouang Kiliane Maeva,
Tankeu Aurel,
Kamgno Joseph
Publication year - 2021
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/jch.14309
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , obesity , environmental health , urban area , cross sectional study , stratified sampling , pediatrics , demography , economy , pathology , sociology , economics
Few data to date exist on pediatric hypertension (PH) prevalence and risk factors in semi‐urban areas in Cameroon, and they are believed to be the same as urban areas. These data are needed to design targeted preventive strategies and contribute to reducing the burden of PH in Cameroon and countries with equivalent standards of care. The authors conducted a cross‐sectional study, from November, 2017 to June, 2018, in primary and secondary schools, from semi‐urban (Bamboutos, West Region) and urban (Mfoundi, Center Region) settings in Cameroon, including children and adolescent aged between 3 and 19 years, recruited on a stratified probability sampling. PH was defined according to the American Academy of Pediatrics 2017. Overall, 1001 and 842 participants were, respectively, included in urban and semi‐urban areas. The overall average age was 13.9 ± 4.03 years, and two‐thirds were girls. Overweight and obesity were more prevalent in urban area (overweight: 17.1%; obesity: 5.9%), compared to semi‐urban (overweight: 1.1% and obesity: 0.8%) ( p < .001). The prevalence of hypertension was higher in urban (12%) than semi‐urban areas (8.6%) ( p = .01). We have identified as factors associated with PH: age > 14 years (OR = 3.18 [1.6; 6.2]) and secondary level of education (OR = 2.5 [1.2; 5.5]) in urban areas; family history of hypertension (OR 1.93 [1.1; 3.4] in semi‐urban areas. PH prevalence is higher in urban than semi‐urban areas, and the associated factors are not the same. Policies to address hypertension in the pediatric population must be targeted and tailored to the different population profiles.