Blood pressure measurement in preschool children: the Hisayama Study.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the blood pressure (BP) measurement protocol for Japanese preschool children, systolic BP (K1) and diastolic BP (K4, K5) were measured along with anthropometric values.


METHODS
Commercially available mercury sphygmomanometers were used. In the first group of children (group A), BP was measured in 79 boys and 85 girls using a cuff 9 cm wide and 23 cm long. In the second group (group B), the length and circumference of the upper right arm of 147 boys and 139 girls were measured to select cuffs appropriate for their sizes. Blood pressure measurements were performed twice on the right arm of the children in the seated position at a mean interval of 5 min.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the anthropometric values (height, bodyweight, body mass index [BMI], length and circumference of the upper arm) between groups A and B. The BP values at K1, K4 and K5 in the first measurement of group B were 91 +/- 9, 54 +/- 8, and 48 +/- 10 mmHg (boys) and 90 +/- 9, 54 +/- 8, and 48 +/- 12 mmHg (girls), respectively. There were no significant differences between the first and second measurements in both groups, however, there were significant differences in the first and second measurements of K4 between groups A and B. Multiple regression analysis by the stepwise method revealed a strong correlation between K1 and the length of the upper arm in the boys and the bodyweight in the girls: between K4 and the bodyweight in the boys and the BMI in the girls, and between K5 and the height in the boys and the upper arm circumference in the girls.


CONCLUSIONS
From these results it would appear that a single measurement is sufficient under appropriate measurement conditions such as rest before measurement and the choice of the cuff size according to the upper arm circumference, and that BP is closely correlated with the anthropometric values in preschool children.
Igarashi
H
H
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Fukushige
J
J
Akazawa
K
K
Nose
Y
Y
Ueda
K
K
D000886:Anthropometry; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D001824:Body Constitution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis