Hypertension: Prevalence and Associated Factors in Gabonese Youth and Adolescents

Background: Early detection of hypertension is necessary to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension in high school students from Libreville, 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 professional technical high schools in Libreville during the 2018-2019 school years. The collection of students was done randomly in the two establishments after parental consent and administrative authorizations. The sample size was calculated using the Daniel Sharwtz's formula. The parameters collected were anamnestic, socio-demographic and clinical. The National High Blood Pressure and European Cardiology Society 2017 classifications were used for the analysis of blood pressure in children and young adults respectively. Results: A total of 613 students with mean an 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: obesity (OR: 2.62, [1.30-5.27]), overweight (OR: 2.52, [1.30-4.89]), male sex (OR: 2.13, [1.29-3.52]) and age over 18 (OR: 13.5, [6.6-27.4]). Conclusions: Hypertension is frequent in school students from this region. Awareness of associated factors and screening campaigns within school establishments are necessary to reduce complications in adulthood.