Validity of the WHO criteria for adolescent hypertension.

Background: WHO Second Task Force Criteria of adolescent hypertension (95th percentile for age) has been use for a long time and different studies have indicated wide variation of hypertension through out the world.

Objective: To find out the validity of the WHO diagnostic criteria for adolescent hypertension.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in an urban slum of Chetla, Kolkata, among 1081 adolescent population (10-19 yrs of age). Initially 95th percentile values for age of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were calculated in different age groups and comparison was made between hypertensive subjects identified by the study values and the WHO reference values, using sensitivity and specificity parameters.

Results: In all the different age groups, the diagnostic criteria of hypertension in the study had sensitivity 100%, but specificity varied in the different age groups i.e. 95.34% (10-12 years), 93.89% (13-15 years), 97.41% (16-18 years), 95.34% (10-18 years) and 100% (19 year).

Conclusion: Age specific reference values for blood pressure of adolescents should be formulated locally in different regions to aid in the identification of children with high blood pressure.