Abstract :Introduction: Raised blood pressure is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths, about 12.8% of all deaths worldwide. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Raised Blood pressure among children and adolescents has shown tracking to adulthood.
Objectives: 1) To study the blood pressure profile of school going adolescents of Aligarh. 2) To study the demographic and behavioral determinants of the same.
Materials and methods: Design: Crosssectional, school-based. Setting: Two affluent and two non-affluent schools in Aligarh. Sample size: 330 school going adolescents each from the affluent and the non-affluent schools (total-660). Study tools: A predesigned & pretested oral questionnaire to elicit information regarding demographic and behavioral factors, and measurement of weight, height, and blood pressure. Statistical analysis: By SPSS 20, chi square test and logistic regression analysis was done to study the independent determinants.
Results and conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension was found to be 7.1% among the study population. Diastolic prehypertension and hypertension was found in 10.2% and 5.8% of adolescents, respectively. 5.3% of adolescents had systolic prehypertension and 3.2% had systolic hypertension. On stepwise logistic regression analysis, it was found that overweight and obesity increased the odds of hypertension by 2.6 times (OR 2.6, CI: 1.3-5.2) and TV viewing for more than 2 hours per day increased the odds by 6 times (OR 6.0, CI: 1.6-22.2). Screening for raised blood pressure is strongly recommended in all schools.