Department of Biochemistry, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
BMC Pediatr. 2010 Mar 9;10:13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-10-13.
Hypertension has been shown to start in early life and to track into adulthood. Detecting adolescents with hypertension and prehypertension will aid early intervention and reduce morbidity and mortality from the disorders. This study reports the point-prevalence of the two disorders in a semi-urban and an urban population of school-going adolescents in Nigeria.
A total of 843 adolescents from two places of domicile were studied. Their blood pressures and anthropometric indices were measured using standard protocol. Point-hypertension and point-prehypertension were defined with respect to each subject's gender, age and height. The prevalence of the disorders was calculated and reported age-wise and nutritional status-wise.
The prevalence of point-prehypertension in the semi-urban area was 22.2% (20.7% for girls and 23.1% for boys) while it was 25.0% (21.8% for girls and 29.2% for boys) in the urban area. The prevalence of point-hypertension was 4.6% (4.1% for girls and 4.8% for boys) in the semi-urban area and 17.5% (18.0% for girls and 16.9% for boys) in the urban area. Point-prehypertension was not detected among the thin subjects of both places of domicile. The prevalence of point-prehypertension was similar in both the urban and semi-urban areas among the subjects who had normal BMI-for-age, and over-weight/obese subjects respectively. From the semi-urban to the urban area, the prevalence of point-hypertension increased approximately 3-folds among thin and normal BMI-for-age subjects, and 10-folds among overweight/obese subjects. Systolic hypertension was more preponderant in both the semi-urban and urban areas.
The prevalence of both disorders is considerably high in the studied populations. Urgent pediatric public health action is needed to address the situation.
高血压已被证实始于生命早期，并可一直持续至成年期。检测青少年高血压和高血压前期有助于早期干预，降低此类疾病的发病率和死亡率。本研究报告了尼日利亚两个半城市和城市地区在校青少年中这两种疾病的时点患病率。
共对来自两个居住点的 843 名青少年进行了研究。使用标准方案测量他们的血压和人体测量学指标。根据每个受试者的性别、年龄和身高定义了点高血压和点高血压前期。按年龄和营养状况报告了这些疾病的患病率。
半城市地区点高血压前期的患病率为 22.2%（女生为 20.7%，男生为 23.1%），而城市地区的患病率为 25.0%（女生为 21.8%，男生为 29.2%）。半城市地区点高血压的患病率为 4.6%（女生为 4.1%，男生为 4.8%），城市地区的患病率为 17.5%（女生为 18.0%，男生为 16.9%）。在两个居住点的消瘦青少年中均未发现点高血压前期。在城市和半城市地区，正常 BMI 人群中，点高血压前期的患病率相似，超重/肥胖人群中也相似。从半城市地区到城市地区，消瘦和正常 BMI 人群中点高血压的患病率分别增加了约 3 倍和 10 倍，超重/肥胖人群中则增加了约 3 倍和 10 倍。在两个地区，收缩压高血压更为普遍。
在研究人群中，这两种疾病的患病率都相当高。需要采取紧急的儿科公共卫生行动来解决这一问题。
