A Systematic Review of Studies on Blood Pressure in Iranian Pediatric Population: First Report From the Middle East and North Africa.
BACKGROUND
Blood pressure (BP) tracks from childhood to adulthood, and has ethnic variations. Therefore, it is important to assess the situation of pediatric BP in different populations. This study aims to systematically review the studies conducted on BP in Iranian children and adolescents.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review on published and national data about pediatric BP in Iran, our search was conducted in Pub Med, Medline, ISI, and Scopus, as well as in national databases including Scientific Information database (SID), IranMedex and Irandoc from 1990 to 2014.


RESULTS
We found 1373 records in the primary search including 840 from international and 533 from national databases. After selection and quality assessment phases, data were extracted from 36 papers and four national data sources. Mean systolic BP (SBP) varied from 90.1 ± 14 mmHg (95% CI 89.25, 90.94) to 120.2 ± 12.3 (118.98, 121.41) mmHg, and for diastolic BP (DBP) from 50.7 ± 11.4 (50.01, 51.38) to 79.2 ± 12.3 (77.95, 80.44) mmHg. The frequency of elevated BP had large variation in sub-national studies with rates as low as 0.4% (0.009, 1.98) for high SBP and as high as 24.1% (20.8, 27.67) for high DBP. At national level, three surveys reported slightly raised rates of elevated BP from 2009 to 2012.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings provide practical information on BP levels in Iranian pediatric population. Although differences exist on the findings of various studies, this review underscores the necessity of tracking BP from childhood, and implementing interventions for primordial prevention of hypertension.
Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran; Student Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
Zahra
Z
Fallah
Non Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Developmental Research and Technology Center, Deputy of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, IR Iran.
Shirin
S
Djalalinia
Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, IR Iran.
Mostafa
M
Qorbani
Non Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Farshad
F
Farzadfar
Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
Roya
R
Kelishadi
Adolescent; Blood Pressure; Burden; Child; Iran; Non-Communicable Disease