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Prevalence and subtypes of hypertension in normal-weight and obese Indian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 36, pages 1003–1010 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence, stages, subtypes of hypertension, and the associated risk factors in adolescent school children in Western India. We screened 2,644 adolescents, from 10 different private and government schools in urban and rural areas for hypertension, as defined by the 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines. The association of stages and subtypes with age, gender, body mass index, type of school, and place of residence was analysed. 197 children (7.5%) had hypertension; 170 (6.4%) had stage I, 27 (1%) had stage II and 76 (2.9%) had elevated blood pressure (EBP). The risk of EBP was higher in children > 15 years of age (p = 0.006). Compared with normal-weight children, obese, and overweight children had a higher risk of hypertension [odds ratio (OR) 9 (5.84, 13.88) and 3.77 (2.59, 5.48) respectively], whereas underweight children had a lower risk [OR 0.39 (0.16, 0.98)]. Normal-weight hypertension was seen in 5.2% and was higher in children from government schools (9.4%). Systolic-diastolic hypertension (SDH) was the most common subtype, seen in 136 (5.1%). SDH was more common in girls, in rural children, and in those with stage II hypertension. Isolated diastolic hypertension, seen in 51 (1.9%), was more common in boys, in urban children, and in those with EBP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India

    Uma S. Ali & Harshal A. Patil

  2. Jupiter Hospital, Thane, India

    Uma S. Ali & Richa G. Prakash

  3. SRCC Children’s Hospital, Mumbai, India

    Uma S. Ali & Vaishali B. More

  4. King Edward Memorial Hospital, Pune, India

    Jyoti Sharma, Jyoti S. Singhal & Punit S. Chhajed

  5. Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai, India

    Vaibhav S. Keskar

  6. Employees State Insurance-Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Model Hospital, Mumbai, India

    Preeti Shanbag

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Contributions

USA: concept, study design, protocol, data acquisition, data analysis, review of literature, ethics clearance for Mumbai schools, and writing the final draft of the article. HAP: protocol, ethics clearance for Mumbai schools, data analysis and literature review, training of medical officers in procedures [height, weight, and blood pressure]. RGP: data acquisition, data analysis, data formatting, tables, and revisions. VBM: study design, protocol, implementation, and data acquisition, literature review, drafting of article JS: ethics clearance for Pune schools, data acquisition, literature review. training of medical officers in procedures [height, weight, and blood pressure] drafting of article JSS: ethics clearance for Pune schools, data acquisition, literature review, training of medical officers in procedures [height, weight, and blood pressure], drafting of the article. PSC: data acquisition, data analysis, literature review VSK: data acquisition, data analysis, literature review, drafting of article PS: study design, protocol, data acquisition, data analysis, drafting of the article, and responding to reviewers’ comments.

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Correspondence to Preeti Shanbag.

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Ali, U.S., Patil, H.A., Prakash, R.G. et al. Prevalence and subtypes of hypertension in normal-weight and obese Indian adolescents: a cross-sectional study. J Hum Hypertens 36, 1003–1010 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-021-00605-5

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