High blood pressure detection in adolescents by clustering overall and abdominal adiposity markers

Obesity is linked to high blood pressure (HBP) in childhood. However, the role of fat as a predictor of HBP in adolescents remains unknown.

To investigate the association between general and abdominal obesity with HBP and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of these indicators to detect HBP in adolescents.

The sample was composed of 1,021 adolescents aged 10-17 years. Subjects were classified as normal, overweight/obese, according to BMI measurements, and as non-obese and with abdominal obesity, according to waist circumference (WC) measurements. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were assessed using an oscillometric device. Logistic regression and ROC curves were used in the statistical analysis.

The overall prevalence of HBP was 11.8% (13.4% in boys and 10.2% in girls). The prevalence of HBP among general overweight/obese boys and girls was 10% and 11.1%, respectively. The prevalence of HBP among boys with abdominal obesity was 28.6%. For both genders, the odds ratio (OR) for HBP was higher in abdominal obesity than in general overweight/obesity (4.09 [OR(95%CI) = 2.57-6.51]) versus 1.83 [OR(95%CI) = 1.83-4.30]). The OR for HBP was higher when general overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity were clustered (OR = 4.35 [OR(95%CI) = 2.68-7.05]), than when identified by either general overweight/obesity or abdominal obesity alone (OR = 1.32 [OR(95%CI) = 0.65-2.68]). However, both types of obesity had low predictive power in HBP detection.

General and abdominal obesity were associated to HBP, however, the sensitivity and specificity of these variables to detect HBP are low in Brazilian adolescents.