Prehypertension and Hypertension in Adolescents

An estimated 7% of prehypertensive adolescents develop hypertension annually.

Hypertension often goes undiagnosed in children (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Aug 29 2007). An important question is the extent to which sporadically elevated blood pressure (BP) persists in adolescents. In this study, investigators examined the persistence of hypertension (systolic or diastolic BP ≥95th percentile) or prehypertension (systolic or diastolic BP ≥90th percentile or ≥120/80 mm Hg but lower than the threshold for hypertension) in 8533 adolescents whose BP was measured at age 13, 14, or 15 and repeated 2 and 4 years later.

Initially, 67% of boys and 77% of girls were normotensive; most remained normotensive at 2 years, but 31% and 12% were prehypertensive at 2 years, and 5% and 4% had developed hypertension. Among boys and girls initia…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Prehypertension and Hypertension in Adolescents

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Reviewing Author