Prevalence of hypertension and hypertension phenotypes after three visits in Chinese urban children

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension and hypertension subtypes among Chinese children aged 6-17 years in a multicenter school-based sample by three separate screenings. METHODS: Students from six major cities in China (Changchun, Beijing, Jinan, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Chengdu) were recruited in this cross-sectional survey during 2012 and 2015. Each participant was seated and had three consecutive blood pressure measurements on the right arm in the morning by an automated oscillometric device and the hypertensive ones were followed to the next visit. Hypertension was diagnosed by BP references for Chinese children and adolescents in 2010. RESULTS: Data from 44 396 children aged 6-17 years were included in analysis, 50.9% of whom were boys. The prevalence of confirmed hypertension after three separate screenings was 4% in the total population, 5% in boys, and 3% in girls, respectively. The prevalence of confirmed isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH), and systolic and diastolic hypertension (SDH) in the total population was 2.7, 0.3 and 1%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Around 4% urban Chinese children and adolescents aged 6 -17 years were hypertensive after three separate BP screenings in 2012 -2015. ISH was the most frequent form of hypertension in children.