Abstract
Pulse rate and blood pressure have been found to be significantly and positively correlated in children and adults in a number of studies, however, during adolescence, this relationship has not been as carefully elucidated. The pulse rate trends and associations between pulse rate and blood pressure in a sample of Philadelphia black adolescents aged 12 to 17 were analyzed using a mixed longitudinal design. Supine and seated pulse means decreased significantly over the entire age span for males and up to age 16 for females. Female pulse means were significantly higher than male means in both the supine and seated positions at all chronological ages. In addition, seated pulse means were significantly higher than supine means for each age and sex group Correlations of pulse rate with systolic, diastolic phase 4 and diastolic phase 5 blood pressure by sex and chronological age groups reveal changing relationships over the adolescent period. Pulse and blood pressure are not positively correlated at all chronological ages, especially at those ages of peak pubertal maturation when pulse rate is dropping and blood pressure rising as a normal response to cardiovascular maturation. Analyses of variance indicate that, those with the highest blood pressure do not necessarily have the highest pulse rates. These results suggest that the patterns of association between pulse rate and blood pressure at adolescence are significantly different from those found in childhood and adulthood. This work was supported by NHLBI Grant #HL-19869.
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Schall, J., Hediger, M., Bowers, E. et al. PULSE RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE DURING ADOLESCENCE. Pediatr Res 14, 1011 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198008000-00229
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198008000-00229