The Contribution of Linear Growth Components to Hypertension in Secondary School Adolescents in an Urban Setting in Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Components of height have been found to be positively associated with blood pressure (BP) both in developed and developing nations. However, amongst Cameroon secondary school adolescents, the relationship between heights, SH and SH/H with BP has rarely been studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of secondary school adolescents with elevated BP and high BP and to evaluate the relationship between the different components of linear growth with BP. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study involving 602 adolescents (399 girls and 203 boys, mean age 14.9 ± 2.3 years) attending some public and private secondary schools in the Bamenda municipality of the North West Region of Cameroon. Anthropometric and BP measurements were carried out following standard procedures. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to determine the relationship between the various components of height (height, SH, SH/H) with BP amongst the children. Results: The overall prevalence of elevated BP and hypertension amongst the study participants was 21.9% and 15.6% respectively (with 8.3% and 7.3% of the hypertensive children in Stage I and Stage II respectively). However, there were no significant gender differences in the prevalence of elevated BP and high BP (p = 0.497). Girls had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher mean SH/H compared to boys. There was a significant correlation (p < 0.001) between systolic BP (SBP) with height (r = 0.311), SH (r = 0.276), and SH/H (r = -0.181). Linear regression indicated a significant association (p < 0.001) between height (β = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.31, 0.53), SH (β = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.56, 0.99) and SH/H (β = -47.35; 95% CI = -70.11, -24.59) with SBP for the unadjusted. Adjusting for age, gender, BMI and school type, SBP showed a positive significant association (p < 0.001) with height (β = 0.048; 95% CI = (0.28, 0.69). Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that height was positively associated with SBP amongst children and adolescents. Thus, height can be used in predicting adolescents with a high risk of developing high BP in our setting.