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Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric indicators of obesity as screening tools for high blood pressure in the elderly
João de Souza Leal Neto1, Raildo da Silva Coqueiro, Roberta Souza Freitas
1Núcleo de Estudos em Epidemiologia do Envelhecimento (NEPE), Departamento de Saúde, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Jequié, Bahia, Brazil.
Abstract:
The study objectives were to investigate the indicators of obesity most associated with high blood pressure in community-dwelling elderly and identify among these which one best discriminates high blood pressure. This is an epidemiological, population, cross-sectional and home-based study of elderly people (≥ 60 years, n = 316) residing in northeastern Brazil. The results showed that the body mass index and the body adiposity index were the indicators more closely associated with high blood pressure in both sexes. Both in female and male genders, body mass index showed high values of specificity and low sensitivity values for discriminating high blood pressure, whereas the body adiposity index showed high sensitivity and moderate specificity values. In clinical practice and health surveillance, it is suggested that both indicators be used as screening tools for hypertension in the elderly.
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