Key result
Absolute height-specific blood pressure thresholds identified children with elevated blood pressure with 80-84% sensitivity and 99% specificity compared to standard criteria.
Why the study?
Do absolute height-specific BP thresholds accurately identify elevated blood pressure in children compared to standard sex, age, and relative-height criteria?
Cross-Sectional (n=30,966)
Yes
Do absolute height-specific BP thresholds accurately identify elevated blood pressure in children compared to standard sex, age, and relative-height criteria?
A simple table of absolute height-specific BP thresholds can identify children with elevated blood pressure with high sensitivity and excellent specificity, potentially simplifying pediatric screening.
May simplify pediatric BP screening with height thresholds; leaves open prospective outcome validation.
OBJECTIVE: Identification of children with elevated blood pressure (BP) is difficult because of the multiple sex, age, and height-specific thresholds to define elevated BP. We propose a simple set of absolute height-specific BP thresholds and evaluate their performance to identify children with elevated BP in two different populations. METHODS: Using the 95th sex, age, and relative-height BP US thresholds to define elevated BP in children (standard criteria), we derived a set of (non sex- and non age-specific) absolute height-specific BP thresholds for 11 height categories by 10 cm increments. Using data from large school-based surveys conducted in Switzerland (N = 5207; 2621 boys, 2586 girls; age range: 10.1-14.9 years) and in the Seychelles (N = 25 759; 13 048 boys, 12 711 girls; age range: 4.4-18.8 years), we evaluated the performance of these height-specific thresholds to identify children with elevated BP. We also derived sex-specific absolute height-specific BP thresholds and compared their performance. RESULTS: In the Swiss and the Seychelles surveys, the prevalence of elevated BP (standard criteria) was 11.4 and 9.1%, respectively. The height-specific thresholds to identify elevated BP had a sensitivity of 80 and 84%, a specificity of 99 and 99%, a positive predictive value of 92 and 91%, and a negative predictive value of 97 and 98%, respectively. Performance of sex-specific absolute height-specific BP thresholds was similar. CONCLUSION: A simple table of height-specific BP thresholds allowed identifying children with elevated BP with high sensitivity and excellent specificity.
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Chioléro et al. (2013) conducted a cross-sectional in Elevated blood pressure (n=30,966). Absolute height-specific blood pressure thresholds vs. Standard criteria (95th sex, age, and relative-height BP US thresholds) was evaluated on Identification of children with elevated blood pressure (sensitivity and specificity). Absolute height-specific blood pressure thresholds identified children with elevated blood pressure with 80-84% sensitivity and 99% specificity compared to standard criteria.
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