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Secular trends and age-specific distribution of blood pressure in Japanese adolescents aged 12–18 years in 2000–2019

Hypertension Research volume 47, pages 184–194 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Adolescent blood pressure is a predictor of future risk for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, and therefore its status needs to be accurately determined. However, limited evidence is available regarding the secular trends and distribution of adolescent blood pressure. In the present study, we assessed the secular trends and age-specific distributions of blood pressure in Japanese adolescents aged 12–18 years by using data drawn from 20 years of annual health checkups conducted between 2000 and 2019. Participants underwent health checkups every year for three years at the same school and the data were divided into four 5-year cycles: 2000–2004, 2005–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019. From a total of 124,460 records (33,496 individuals) retrieved, 3000 records (3000 individuals) from each year-cycle were randomly selected to avoid duplicating data from the same individuals. In the study period, in males systolic blood pressure showed a decreasing trend over time, whereas in females diastolic blood pressure showed an increasing trend. Subgroup analyses by school category (junior/senior high school) and by obesity category showed similar blood pressure trends as in the overall analysis. Age-specific blood pressure values in Japanese adolescents increased with age in males but not in females. Thus, different patterns of change in blood pressure values over the past 20 years were observed between males and females. Age-specific blood pressure distributions are also presented. Together, these findings will be useful for understanding blood pressure trends among adolescents.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge all the staff at Keio University Health Center who were involved in this research.

Funding

Funding

This work was supported by the Keio University Academic Development Funds for Joint Research (TA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keio University Health Center, Yokohama-shi, Japan

    Tatsuhiko Azegami, Keiko Uchida, Ayano Murai-Takeda, Mikako Inokuchi & Masaaki Mori

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Tatsuhiko Azegami & Kaori Hayashi

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasunori Sato

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  1. Tatsuhiko Azegami
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Correspondence to Tatsuhiko Azegami.

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Azegami, T., Uchida, K., Sato, Y. et al. Secular trends and age-specific distribution of blood pressure in Japanese adolescents aged 12–18 years in 2000–2019. Hypertens Res 47, 184–194 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01432-6

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