Pré-hipertensão arterial e pressão de pulso aumentada em adolescentes: prevalência e fatores associados

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo estimate the prevalence of prehypertension and elevated pulse pressure in adolescents and assess the association between those two conditions and sex, age, sexual development, obesity and physical activity. METHODSAnthropometrical data and blood pressure were measured in and a questionnaire was applied to 456 adolescents (aged 12 to 17 years) recruited from public and private schools, in the Fonseca district, in the city of Niterói, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 2003 to 2004. RESULTSThirty nine (8.6%) presented prehypertension (PH) and 13.4%, elevated pulse pressure (PP). At bivariate analysis, PH was signifi cantly associated with sex, age and obesity, with more prevalent in boys aged between 15 and 17 years, and in the obese. Elevated PP was associated with gender only, as it was more prevalent in boys. Sexual maturation did not show an association with PH or elevated PP. Similar correlations were found at logistic regression. PH prevalence odds ratio was 7.7 for sex, 4.3 for age and 4.6 for obesity. Elevated PP prevalence odds ratio was 10.8 for sex. The correlation between PP and physical activity was positive and signifi cant. The elevation of PP was attributable to systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONPH and the elevated PP were shown to be present in adolescents from a population with a low prevalence of hypertension, mostly in boys. Further prospective studies are necessary to assess the persistence and the impact of those conditions.

Pressão arterial elevada em crianças e adolescentes com excesso de peso

“…Stratification by nutritional status made this difference statistically significant; a fact also observed in other studies that worked with children and adolescents 19,20 . The risk of BP reaching high values varies according to the obesity duration and intensity 14 .…”

“…Although with no statistically significant difference, the frequency of high BP was higher in males, a fact observed by other authors 19,20 . The distinction between sexes can be attributed to timing differences in which biological changes occur (sexual maturation, body composition and testosterone production) 19 or because boys are considered more active than girls 20 .…”

“…The distinction between sexes can be attributed to timing differences in which biological changes occur (sexual maturation, body composition and testosterone production) 19 or because boys are considered more active than girls 20 .…”

“…However, this measurement method can be used as an indicator of risk of blood hypertension for cross-sectional comparisons in epidemiological studies with children and adolescents 19 .…”

Prevalência de pré-hipertensão e de hipertensão arterial e avaliação de fatores associados em crianças e adolescentes de escolas públicas de Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

“…Contudo, estudos pontuais em diversas regiões do país têm mostrado altas prevalências de hipertensão, oscilando entre 2,5% a 44,7% 7,8,9,10,11,12,13 . Essa ampla variação pode decorrer, sobretudo, das diferentes metodologias empregadas, em especial no que diz respeito aos pontos de corte adotados e ao número de aferições da pressão realizada durante o atendimento.…”