Fauzia Zafar, Ghulam Raza Baloch, Haroon Hamid, Tahir Masood Ahmed.
Essential hypertension in school-going children.
Pak Paed J Jan ;29(3):133-8.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of essential hypertension in children in our set-up. Design: It was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration: The study was conducted in the urban areas of Multan in the year 1999-2000. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in 999 children , 4-15 years of age belonging to schools catering to the three social classes i.e, lower, middle and upper. A random sample of 333 was chosen from each group of schools. On first examination, height, weight, BMI, pulse and blood pressure were recorded tor each child and all children with blood pressures above 95" centile were re-evaluated on 2nd and 3rd occasion, 4 weeks apart. Detailed history and physical examination was recorded for these selected children. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in the study population was found to be 2.5%. These children had a mean age of 11.25 years with male to female ratio of 1: 1.1. Frequency of hypertensive children declined from the initial 7.5% to 2.5% on repeated measurements. Majority (80%) of hypertensive children were twelve years of age or older. In all 999 children blood pressure was significantly correlated with height (r = 0.54), weight (r = 0.51) and BMI 9 (r = 0.1). A high association (84%) was found with family history of hypertension and intake of saturated fats (67%). No significant relation was seen with high salt intake and the only significant symptom was headache and occasional dizziness. Conclusion: Essential hypertension is not a very infrequent entity in school-going children but needs repeated measurements for confirmation of diagnosis. Childhood hypertension seems to be associated with height, weight and BMI of children. It has significant association with the intake of saturated fats and family history of hypertension.

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