Prevalence of Hypertension in Adolescents in Egyptian Secondary School

Abstract

Background: Adolescent hypertension-range blood pressure is an important early cardiovascular risk marker. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypertension-range blood pressure among adolescents at one Egyptian secondary school and evaluate associated demographic and lifestyle factors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used census sampling and included 337 students aged 13–17 years at El-Sadat Secondary School, El-Gharbia, Egypt; the minimum required sample was 114. Blood pressure was measured three times under standardized conditions during one school assessment and classified according to the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics guideline. Prevalence with a 95% confidence interval (CI), exact tests, and modified Poisson regression with robust variance were used.
Results: The mean age was 15.02 ± 1.34 years; 204 students were male (60.53%). Mean SBP was 109.9 ± 12.4 mmHg and mean DBP was 67.7 ± 6.6 mmHg. Hypertension-range BP was detected in 50 students (14.84%; 95% CI, 11.45%–19.02%). In unadjusted analyses, male sex, parental smoking, salty diet, and physical inactivity were associated with hypertension-range BP (all P<0.001). In the adjusted model (n=336), parental smoking (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR], 4.05; 95% CI, 2.12–7.72) and physical inactivity (aPR, 3.40; 95% CI, 2.04–5.65) remained independently associated; sex, age, and BMI were not significant.
Conclusions: Hypertension-range BP was common among adolescents at the participating school. Parental smoking and physical inactivity were independently associated with the outcome. Multicenter studies using repeated-visit or ambulatory confirmation are needed before generalizing these findings.