800,000 More Adolescents Classified as Hypertensive Under New Guidelines

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Nearly a million U.S. adolescents would be reclassified as having hypertension under new guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2017.

Researchers used NHANES data on some 12,000 adolescents aged 12–19 to track the prevalence of hypertension between 2001 and 2016 according to both the prior and newer guidelines (see second link below for new hypertension cutoffs). Hypertension prevalence declined over the study period, regardless of which guidelines were used. However, the newer guidelines classified more youth as hypertensive than the old guidelines did — 4.1% vs. 1.5% — resulting in an estimated 800,000 more adolescents being classified as hypertensive in 2013–2016.

Writing in MMWR, the researchers conclude: "Clinicians ... might expect to see a higher prevalence of hypertension with application of the new guideline and can use these data to inform actions to address hypertension among youths. Strategies to improve cardiovascular health include adoption of healthy eating patterns and increased physical activity."