Study of prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension among urban school-going children in Tripura

Abstract

Introduction: Prehypertension is defined as an independent category of blood pressure (BP) by the seventh joint national committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatments of BP. Systolic BP (SBP) between 120 and 139 mm Hg or diastolic BP between 80 and 89 mm Hg are considered to have prehypertension. BP ≥140/90 mm Hg is considered hypertension. It is to assess the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension among urban school-going children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1011 school-going children of both sexes within 12–17 years of age group and each participant was selected using a simple random sampling technique. Pretested predesigned questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Prevalence of normotensive, prehypertensive, and hypertensive were 73.6%, 19.4%, and 7%, respectively, when both systolic and diastolic components have been taken into account. Conclusion: This study has showed that more than 19% prehypertensive and 7% hypertensive among the school-going children aged between 12 and 17 years when both systolic and diastolic components have been taken into account.