Risk factors associated with arterial hypertension in adolescents

To investigate the risk factors associated with essential arterial hypertension in adolescents.

A case-control, outpatient-based study of adolescents aged 11 to 19 years treated at the Center for Studies into Adolescent Health (Núcleo de Estudos da Saúde do Adolescente) at the Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. Nutritional status was assessed by means of body mass index. Data were also obtained on waist circumference, height, family history of arterial hypertension, birth weight and pubertal development. The analysis was performed using unconditional logistic regression.

The study investigated 91 cases and 182 controls. Body mass index was associated with hypertension. Height had a positive association with hypertension only among the girls. There was no evidence of an association between pubertal development or birth weight with arterial hypertension in adolescence. In contrast, family history, particularly when both parents had hypertension, exhibited a robust association, both among the boys (OR = 13.32; 95%CI 2.25-78.94), and the girls (OR = 11.35; 95%CI 1.42-90.21).

In our study, overweight, obesity and family history of hypertension (father and mother with hypertension) were the principal risk factors for arterial hypertension in adolescents.