Relationship between physical development indicators and blood pressure level in school-age children

Abstract

In the study, 848 school age children were examined. They were divided into 3 groups: the first group consisted of 182 children with arterial hypertension, the second group – 78 children with prehypertension and the control group – 588 children with normal blood pressure level. The physical development of children was assessed according to the generally accepted unified method. The blood pressure level was measured with an automatic tonometer three times, with the calculation of the average value. The results were assessed using percentile tables. Statistical processing of the data obtained was carried using Microsoft Office Excel and Statistica 10.0 programs. When analyzing anthropometric indicators, it was found that the Z-index of the body mass index in children of the first group was significantly higher than that in children with normal blood pressure. There was a difference in the circumference of the waist and hips as compared with children from the second and control groups. Based on the study results an epidemiological analysis of statistical processing was carried out and it was found that overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for the development of arterial hypertension (OR = 3.36; RR = 2.50; specificity = 0.81; sensitivity = 0.43). The results of the correlative and cluster analyses suggest the relationship between physical development indicators and the level of blood pressure in schoolchildren.