Abstract
White-coat hypertension is a condition when a person’s blood pressure tends to increase only when they are at the doctor's office. In children, blood pressure between the 90th and 95th percentile is labelled as pre-hypertension and above the 95thcentile it is classified as hypertension. The difference between 90th and 95th centiles for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure is only 4 mm of Hg. Methods: Children between ages 5 to 10 years admitted in the children ward of Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India from February to April 2020 included in the study. We record blood pressure by oscillometer 4 times a day, over 4 days of hospital stay and each time two readings were taken at 5 minute intervals. Results: During 4 days of hospital stay blood pressure varied widely. In addition second reading of BP were always less than the first reading BP, but second readings data also varied widely just as first readings. Conclusion: White coat’ hypertension is the phenomenon where BP is exaggerated by act of measuring BP. This is initiated by anxiety. Children are particularly susceptible and distressed by the circumstances of hospitalization, stranger anxiety and fear to painful intervention. We should take multiple readings before reach a conclusion of hypertension. Key words: Blood pressure, White-coat Hypertension, Ambulatory BP, Hypertension
Highlights
Hypertension is identified using statistically derived norms based on gender, age and height
White-coat hypertension is a condition when a person’s blood pressure tends to increase only when they are at the doctor's office
Blood pressure between the 90th and 95th percentile is labelled as pre-hypertension and above the 95thcentile it is classified as hypertension
Summary
Hypertension is identified using statistically derived norms based on gender, age and height. In the ‘Fourth Report on High BP in Children’ the difference between 90th centile (normal BP) and 95th centile (abnormal BP) is only 4 mm of Hg both for diastolic and systolic BP for children between 5 and 10 years of age (1). When children are admitted to the hospital for other illnesses, it is usually the first time that they have their blood pressures recorded. This is a bad time to identify hypertension because of the anxiety associated with the illness with which they are admitted. The present study being undertaken to look at the variability of blood pressure in individual children during hospitalization given that this is the context in which hypertension is often noted
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
