title: Blood pressure to height ratio: A novel method for detecting hypertension in paediatric age groups.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A novel method for detecting hypertension in paediatric age groups has recently been formulated using ratios of systolic blood pressure to height (SBPHR) and diastolic blood pressure to height (DBPHR).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To validate this approach and assess its applicability to children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of 6837 children and adolescents five to 18 years of age was conducted. Blood pressure (BP) readings obtained were stratified using population-based percentiles from the United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For SBPHR and DBPHR, areas under the ROC curve were >0.9 for BP at or above the 95th percentile. Performance of the cut-off points for detecting elevated BP in adolescents 13 to 18 years of age compared favourably with previous studies, showing high sensitivity and specificity (>95%). SBPHR and DBPHR also proved satisfactory when applied to children five to 12 years of age. Nevertheless, performance was lower for BP between the 90th and 95th percentiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BP to height ratios are a practical means for detecting elevated BP in adolescents and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University; Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaofan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Library, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University; Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University; Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xingang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University; Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University; Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yingxian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: Adolescents; Blood pressure to height ratio; Children; Hypertension; Prehypertension