title: Childhood-Onset Essential Hypertension and the Family Structure.
abstract: The prevalence and effect of single-parent families in childhood-onset essential hypertension (EH) is unknown. Children with EH and age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched controls were enrolled. Family structure data were obtained by in-person interview. A total of 148 families (76 hypertension probands, 72 control probands; median 14 years) were prospective-ly enrolled in the study. Single-parent status was seen in 42% of the families--with and without EH (38% vs 46%, P=.41; odds ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.4-1.4). After multivariable analysis, a statistically significant sociofamilial contributor to the development of childhood-onset EH was not identified. A significant number of single-parent families (42%), the majority with single mothers, were found in our pedigree study. Sociofamilial factors are known to contribute to the expression of adult-onset EH, but findings in our study suggest that they appear to contribute less in the expression of childhood-onset EH.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Monesha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gupta-Malhotra
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Syed Shahrukh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Divisions of Community and General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Michelle S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Barratt
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Dianna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Milewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shete
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010375:Pedigree; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015406:Single Parent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*