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Blood pressure-to-height ratio as a screening tool for hypertension in children

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Abstract

Objective

To test whether blood pressure-to-height ratio (BPHR) can be used to screen for hypertension in children.

Methods

Data regarding blood pressure and other variables was recorded for 2702 school children between the ages of 10-16 years as a part of a nutritional survey.

Results

The optimal thresholds for defining hypertension in boys were 0.76 for systolic BPHR and 0.50 for diastolic BPHR; the respective threshold in girls were 0.80 and 0.52.

Conclusion

BPHR can be used as an effective screening test for diagnosing both hypertension and prehypertension in children aged 10–16 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Sher-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, Kashmir, J&K, India

    Asif Ahmed, Syed Wajid Ali & Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Sher-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, J&K, India

    Shariq Massodi

Authors
  1. Asif Ahmed
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  2. Syed Wajid Ali
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  3. Shariq Massodi
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  4. Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat
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Correspondence to Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat.

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Ahmed, A., Ali, S.W., Massodi, S. et al. Blood pressure-to-height ratio as a screening tool for hypertension in children. Indian Pediatr 53, 137–139 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-016-0808-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-016-0808-1

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