A Comparative Study on the Difference of Blood Pressure Criteria and the Difference in Blood Pressure Measurement Among Children and Adolescents in China, the United States, and Europe

Abstract

Abstract OBJECTIVE To compare the difference of blood pressure criteria and the difference in blood pressure measurement among children and adolescents. METHODS The latest blood pressure criteria for children and adolescents in China, the normal blood pressure standard the United States, and Europe have been used to calculate blood pressure differences for the same age, gender, and height. Based on 3 blood pressure measurements of 45,314 Chinese and 15,279 American children and adolescents, the differences in blood pressure measurements were calculated through repeated measurement analysis of variance and compared with criteria differences. RESULTS More than 60% of the difference in blood pressure standard is distributed between −3 and 3 mm Hg. But the difference between Chinese standards and American standards can be 5–10 mm Hg in children aged 13. The difference between Chinese standards and European standards can be 6–9 mm Hg at the age of 16. The analysis of repeated blood pressure data shows that the maximum difference in systolic blood pressure measurement for Chinese boys and girls is 3.7 and 4.1 mm Hg, respectively, and the maximum difference in diastolic blood pressure measurement is 2.0 and 2.1 mm Hg. The difference between the 3 measurements of boys and girls in the United States is nearly 1 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS The difference between blood pressure standards is smaller than the measurement difference, and accurate measurement and repeated measurement of blood pressure may be more important for evaluating blood pressure status than the selection of blood pressure standards.