Prevalence of hypertension in children of Kashmer city: comparison of National Center for Hypertension and American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines

For the optimal management of high blood pressure in children in 2017, a new guideline was replaced by the 2004 guideline by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the prevalence of high blood pressure in children in Kashmir based on the 2004 and 2017 guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In this descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study in 2022, 1287 students aged 7 to 12 years were randomly selected from 49 girls' and boys' elementary schools by cluster sampling. Children's personal information questionnaire was completed and their height, weight, body mass index, and blood pressure variables were measured according to the standard method. The obtained data were compared based on two instructions. Analysis of variance test with a significance level of less than 0.05 was used to investigate the factors affecting blood pressure.

According to the guidelines of 2017, normal blood pressure has decreased by 6.9 percent compared to the guidelines of 2004, the prevalence of prehypertension has increased from 4.2 to 4.8 percent, and hypertension has increased from 6.3 to 12.7 percent. It was found that 19.8% of children who were placed in the high blood pressure category based on the 2017 guidelines were overweight and obese, according to the results of the analysis of variance, body mass index factors, height, and weight had an effect on blood pressure. At the age of 7, height and body mass index and at the age of 11, height had no effect on diastolic blood pressure, gender factor had an effect on blood pressure at all ages.

The prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension has increased based on the 2017 guideline, so by applying it, more cases of hypertension can be diagnosed on time and preventive measures can be taken.