PREVALENCE OF HYPERTENSION AND HYPERTENSION PHENOTYPES BY AGE AND GENDER AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN IN SPAIN

Abstract

Objective: Childhood hypertension is a constantly increasing health problem. Data regarding its prevalence and particularly the prevalence of its phenotypes in the Spanish population are limited; therefore, the aim of the study was to determine them in a large sample of children from the central área of Spain Design and method: A sample of 2772 schoolchildren (12–17 years) participated in the MEPAFAC Study. A shooll-based cross-sectional epidemiologic study conducted in 25 secondary schools in the center area of Spain. This study shows results on 2772 children (1.397boys), for whom full data on systolic and diastolic blood pressure indices were available, as well as BMI and physical activity data. Results: The observed prevalence rates following the European Guidelines (Lurbe et al, 2016) were, for younger children (?16 years old): normal-high blood pressure 9,1%; stage 1 hypertension, 3,1%; and stage 2 hypertension, 2,7%. Boys had higher hypertension prevalence than girls (6,9% vs. 4,7%). The prevalence rates for Normal-High Blood Pressure were higher in older (>16 years) than younger children (9,8% vs. 9,1% respectively), while stage 1 & 2 hypertension was higher in younger children compared to older children (3,1% vs. 0,4% and 2,7% vs 0% respectively). Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) was the most prevalent phenotype (4,8% vs 1,2%) in younger children. Moreover, presence of hypertension was positively associated with body mass index (BMI) in both genders, but not with sedentary behaviours. Conclusions: In our knowledge the prevalence of hypertension in spanish children (12–17 years) from the regional community of Madrid remain high using the new guidelines (Lurbe, 2016), while the differences between genders in hypertension phenotype prevalence also provide valuable insight on this problem. The present data may guide future public health initiatives to tackle childhood hypertension in Spain