Prevalence of arterial hypertension in children aged 9-14 years, residents of the city of Łódź.
BACKGROUND
Hypertension is one of the most common disorders in adults. Although it may be already present in children and adolescents, it is usually undetected. There is a lack of data on the prevalence of hypertension in this age-group in Poland.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of hypertension in children and adolescents, residents of the city of Łódź.


METHODS
Children and adolescents aged 9-14 years, attending one primary and one secondary school, were examined. Blood pressure (BP) was measured three times with the use of a mercury sphygmomanometer. Systolic BP was determined by the first Korotkoff sound, and diastolic BP - by the fifth Korotkoff sound. Hypertension was diagnosed when the value of systolic and/or diastolic BP exceeded the 95th percentile of normal values, taking into account height, gender and age.


RESULTS
In total, 637 children and adolescents (349 girls and 288 boys) were examined. The first BP measurements revealed abnormal values in 13.2% of examined subjects, slightly more often in girls than in boys (14.6% vs 11.4%, NS). Triple BP measurements revealed the presence of hypertension in 3.3% of examined subjects (2.9% of girls and 3.8% of boys, NS). Hypertension was diagnosed by triple measurement in a significantly lower proportion of subjects than by a single screening examination (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Hypertension is present in a significant proportion of children and adolescents who live in the city of Łódź, which shows the need for a systematic screening. A proper detection of hypertension requires repeated BP measurements.
Kardas
Przemysław
P
Department of Family Medicine, Chair of Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical University of Łódź, ul. Narutowicza 96, 909-153 Łódź, Poland.
Kufelnicka
Maja
M
Herczyński
Daniel
D
D000293:Adolescent; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence