Study of blood pressure in rural and urban school children

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is one of the most common diseases worldwide. Early diagnosis of Hypertension is an important strategy in its control. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and risk factors among school going children and to find its relationship with regard to age, sex, height, weight and BMI criteria and comparing the values with available standards. Methods: It is a prospective cross-sectional study done in the age group of 10 to 16 years. Children were selected from urban and rural areas in and around Mysore city. Blood pressure measurements were taken by mercury Sphygmomanometer as per recommendation of American Heart Association. Three readings of blood pressure were recorded for each subject and were correlated with age, gender and anthropometry. All the statistical operations were done through SPSS. Results: The present study was conducted amongst children in the age group of 10-16 years in rural and urban schools. A total of 2000 children were included in the study. BP measurements of 1000 subjects in three urban school children and 1000 school children in one rural school children in Mysuru district were done. In rural school children prevalence of systolic hypertension was 2.8% in males and 0.9% in females. In urban school children prevalence of systolic hypertension was 2.1% in males and 1.2% in females. Conclusions: Blood pressure measurement in children is pivotal in clinical examination. Periodic measurement of blood pressure would identify hypertension at an early age. Further studies are needed to know the exact prevalence of hypertension and long term follow up studies are required to know the effect and risk factors associated in children with sustained hypertension.