Hypertension and prehypertension: prevalence and associated factors in Gabonese Youth and Adolescents

Background : Early detection of hypertension is necessary to reduce subsequent morbidity and mortality. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in high school students from the capital city of Gabon and to identify their associated factors. Methods : This was a cross-sectional and analytical study carried out on a population of students enrolled in two establishments in Libreville during the 2018-2019 year school. Information on hypertension family history, eating habits, alcohol and/or tobacco consumption, oral contraception, age, gender, body mass index and blood pressure were collected. The National High Blood Pressure and European Cardiology Society 2013 classifications were used for the analysis of blood pressure in children and young adults respectively. Results : A total of 613 students with mean age of 20.3 ± 2.5 years were included. Sex ratio was 2.3. Prevalence of hypertension was 19.4% and the following factors were found to be independently associated with hypertension: overweight (aOR: 2.77 [1.29-9.99]) and male gender (aOR: 2.10, [1.22-3.62]) or not independently: overweight (OR: 2.52, [1.30-4.89] and obesity (OR: 2.62, [1.30-5.27]) (p<00.1). The prevalence of prehypertension was 23.0%, obesity (aOR:3,93 [1.02-15.2]) was independently associated with prehypertension, while overweight (OR: 2.16, [1.03-4.53]) and male sex (OR: 1.72, [1.10-2.78]) (p<00.1) were dependent factors. Conclusions : Hypertension and prehypertension are not unfrequent in school students from Libreville. Awareness of associated factors and screening campaigns within school establishments are necessary to reduce complications in adulthood.