March 1, 1979American Journal of Epidemiology
Time Course Studies of Blood Pressure in Children-the Bogalusa Heart Study
Why the study?
Does blood pressure level persist over time in children?
Population
3524 children representative of an entire geographic community, with a subset of 1101 reexamined after one…
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
1 year
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
Supports early BP monitoring in children; extends tracking data but leaves open long-term outcome prediction.
Key Points
- This research aims to assess blood pressure patterns and variability in children over time.
- Blood pressure measurements taken from 3524 children using a mercury sphygmomanometer and automatic recorder.
- A subset of 1101 children was reexamined after one year, with additional monitoring of 35 fifth-graders monthly for eight months to estimate variability.
- Multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between previous BP and current BP, controlling for other factors.
- Children initially in the top ten percentiles had an average decrease of 3 mmHg in systolic and 1 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure upon reexamination.
- The partial correlation coefficient for previous year's BP ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 across age cohorts, indicating significant persistence in BP levels.
- The study suggests that early tracking of blood pressure may be linked to the onset of primary hypertension.
Structured PICO
Does blood pressure level persist over time in children?
P
Population
3524 children (ages 5, 8, 11, and 14 years) representative of an entire geographic community, with a subset of 1101 reexamined after one year and 35 fifth-graders examined monthly for eight months.
O
Outcome
Persistence and variability of systolic and diastolic blood pressure over timesurrogate
Blood pressure levels in children demonstrate a high degree of tracking over time, suggesting that primary hypertension may begin early in life.
Cite This Study
Voors et al. (1979) studied this question.