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Gender-specific prevalence and associated risk factors of prehypertension among rural children and adolescents in Northeast China: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Little is known about the prevalence and risk profile of prehypertension among Chinese children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prehypertensive status and its associated risk factors among rural Chinese children and adolescents. We conducted a cross-sectional study including 5,245 children and adolescents (2,732 boys and 2,513 girls) aged 5–18 years in Northeast China. Main anthropometric data and related information were collected. The overall prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension was 15 % and 20.2 %, respectively. The prevalence of prehypertension among boys was 15.7 %, compared to that of 14.2 % among girls (P = 0.256). After adjusting for age, race, weight status, waist circumference, triceps skinfold, family income, smoking and drinking status, boys aged 12–14 and 15–18 years had a 2.86- and 5.97-fold risk of prehypertension, respectively, compared to those aged 5–8 years. Overweight and obese boys had an increased risk of prehypertension in comparison to those with normal weight (overweight: odds ratio [OR] = 1.837, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.321–2.556; obese: OR = 2.941, 95 % CI 1.783–4.851). A larger triceps skinfold (≥90th percentile) was significantly related to increased odds of prehypertension (OR = 2.32; 95 % CI, 1.516–3.55) among boys. For girls, only older age was found to be a risk factor for prehypertension. Conclusion: Pediatric prehypertension is highly prevalent in rural Northeast China. The risk factors for prehypertension differed among boys and girls. A more comprehensive risk profile of prehypertension among children and adolescents needs to be established for early prevention.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Special Program for National Key Basic Research and Development Prorgram (2010CB535011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, the First Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Shenyang, Heping District, 110001, China

    Xiaofan Guo, Yang Li, Shasha Yu, Xinghu Zhou, Rui Wang, Xingang Zhang & Yingxian Sun

  2. Department of Clinical epidemiology, Library, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China

    Liqiang Zheng

  3. Department of Cardiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China

    Zhaoqing Sun

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  1. Xiaofan Guo
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  2. Liqiang Zheng
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  3. Yang Li
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Correspondence to Yingxian Sun.

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Guo, X., Zheng, L., Li, Y. et al. Gender-specific prevalence and associated risk factors of prehypertension among rural children and adolescents in Northeast China: a cross-sectional study. Eur J Pediatr 172, 223–230 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1873-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1873-7

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