What does this research mean for the field?

Elevated blood pressure affects over a third of Tunisian adolescents and is strongly and independently associated with both general and abdominal obesity. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To evaluate blood pressure status and determine associated anthropometric, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors among adolescents.

February 3, 2012BMC Public HealthOpen Access

Blood pressure and associated factors in a North African adolescent population. a national cross-sectional study in Tunisia

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Population

2,870 Tunisian adolescents aged 15-19 years from a national, stratified, random cluster sample.

Design

Cross-sectional

Authors

HAHajer Aounallah‐SkhiriTunis University JAJalila El AtiInstitut National de Nutrition et de Technologie Alimentaire PTPierre TraissacInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Supports obesity-linked BP screening in Tunisian adolescents; hypothesis-generating and leaves open causal effects plus intervention outcomes.

Key Points

To evaluate blood pressure status and determine associated anthropometric, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors among adolescents.
Conducted a national cross-sectional survey in Tunisia (N=2,870; 1,294 boys and 1,576 girls aged 15–19 years) using stratified random cluster sampling during home visits.
Assessed body mass index based on WHO 2007 criteria, measured waist circumference, and recorded duplicate blood pressure measurements to classify elevated blood pressure and hypertension via multivariable logistic regression.
Elevated blood pressure was found in 35.1% (95% CI, 32.9–37.4%) of adolescents, with significantly higher rates in boys than girls (46.1% vs. 33.3%; P < 0.0001), while 4.7% (95% CI, 3.8–5.9%) had hypertension.
Obesity was strongly associated with elevated blood pressure (boys OR = 2.1, 95% CI [1.0–4.2]; girls OR = 2.3, 95% CI [1.3–3.9]) and hypertension (boys OR = 3.5, 95% CI [1.4–8.9]; girls OR = 5.4, 95% CI [2.2–13.4]).
Abdominal obesity increased the odds of elevated blood pressure in both genders (tertile 3 vs. 1: boys OR = 2.8, 95% CI [1.9–4.2]; girls OR = 2.1, 95% CI [1.5–3.0]) and hypertension in boys.

Structured PICO

Population

2,870 Tunisian adolescents aged 15-19 years from a national, stratified, random cluster sample.

Outcome

Prevalence of elevated blood pressure (SBP/DBP ≥ 90th percentile or ≥ 120/80 mm Hg) and hypertension, and their association with BMI, waist circumference, and socio-behavioral factors.surrogate

Elevated blood pressure is highly prevalent among Tunisian adolescents and is strongly associated with overweight and obesity, highlighting the need for early lifestyle interventions.

Limitations

Cross-sectional design limits causal interpretations of observed associations.
Blood pressure assessment was based on two measurements made during a single visit, which may have led to overestimation of elevated BP.
Dietary habits were not taken into account in the main analysis.

Cite This Study

Aounallah‐Skhiri et al. (2012) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a195f9920fe4b8df388be8b https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-98

Topics

Hypertension management

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Implication

Supports obesity-linked BP screening in Tunisian adolescents; hypothesis-generating and leaves open causal effects plus intervention outcomes.

Blood pressure and associated factors in a North African adolescent population. a national cross-sectional study in Tunisia

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Structured PICO

Limitations

Cite This Study

Topics

Blood pressure and associated factors in a North African adolescent population. a national cross-sectional study in Tunisia

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Structured PICO

Limitations

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Topics

Also Consider