Isolated systolic hypertension of the young and sodium intake

Patterns and predictors of elevated blood pressure and hypertension among primary school children in urban Kenya

OBJECTIVE

We examined the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (BP) and hypertension among 390 primary school children of different socioeconomic status (SES) in two urban settings in Kenya and explored the association between children's BP status and their sociodemographic characteristics, dietary behaviours and overweight/obesity status.

METHODS

Children's BP and anthropometric measurements were taken and parents, with the help of their children, completed questionnaires on the children's dietary behaviours. An average of three BP readings was used to calculate BP percentiles by age, sex and height. BMI-for-age z-scores, waist-circumference-to-height ratio and the sum of skinfold measures were calculated. We utilized prevalence ratio analysis to examine the association between BP and sociodemographic characteristics, dietary behaviours and overweight/obesity.

RESULTS

About 9% of the school children had elevated BP and 33% had stage 1 hypertension. Among overweight children, the proportion of children with elevated BP was 1.85-fold greater and the proportion of children with hypertension was 1.83-fold greater compared with children with healthy body weight. Similar patterns of significant associations were seen among obese children, children with central obesity and children with high total skinfold values. The proportion of children with hypertension was 1.42-fold greater among children with high frequency of consumption of chips/crisps compared with children with lower frequency of consumption.

CONCLUSION

These results increase our understanding BP patterns and determinants among school children in Kenya and can help inform noncommunicable disease prevention efforts.

Prevalence of elevated blood pressure among locomotive workers according to the long-term assessment of pre-trip health screening

Hypertension is considered as one of the leading cardiovascular diseases in transport workers.

Aim. In the context of epidemiological prospective study, to assess the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (BP) detected at pre-trip health screening (PTHS).

Material and methods. We analyzed records of the database of PTHS automatic system for 15 years (2006-2020) to reveal elevated systolic (140 mm Hg) and/or diastolic (90 mm Hg) BP.

Results. For 15 years, the detection rate of systolic BP >140 mm Hg has decreased by 4 times. For diastolic BP, the detection rate of values >90 mm Hg decreased by 8 times. The detection rate of non-normal systolic BP among railway staff correlates with the detection rate of non-normal diastolic BP (r=0,92; p<0,05) on different railways. Over the 15-year period, the number of suspensions from the trip due to PTHS has decreased by 2 times, while the number of suspensions due to hypertension decreased by 2,5 times.

Conclusion. The conducted study may indicate the effectiveness of primary and secondary prevention of hypertension among Russian Railways staff.