title: Association Between Aerobic Fitness And High Blood Pressure in Adolescents in Brazil: Evidence for Criterion-Referenced Cut-Points.
abstract: Criterion-referenced cut-points for health-related fitness measures are lacking. This study aimed to determine the associations between aerobic fitness and high blood pressure levels (HBP) to determine the cut-points that best predict HBP among adolescents.
  
  
  
  This cross-sectional school-based study with sample of 875 adolescents aged 14-19 years was conducted in southern Brazil. Aerobic fitness was assessed using the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured by the oscillometric method with a digital sphygmomanometer. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic variables, physical activity, body mass and biological maturation.
  
  
  
  Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that mCAFT measures could discriminate HBP in both sexes (female: AUC = 0.70; male: AUC = 0.63). The cut-points with the best discriminatory power for HBP were 32 mL·kg-1·min-1 for females and 40 mL·kg-1·min-1 for males. Females (OR = 8.4; 95% CI: 2.1, 33.7) and males (OR: 2.5; CI 95%: 1.2, 5.2) with low aerobic fitness levels were more likely to have HBP.
  
  
  
  mCAFT measures are inversely associated with BP and cut-points from ROC analyses have good discriminatory power for HBP.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physical Education, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diego Augusto
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pelegrini
authors.forename: Roberto Jeronimo
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dos Santos Silva
authors.forename: Antonio Cesar
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Cabral de Oliveira
authors.forename: Edio Luiz
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Petroski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012016:Reference Values; D055815:Young Adult