Prevalence of elevated blood pressure among primary school children in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

Background: The high prevalence of hypertension in developing countries has stimulated a lot of research, one of which is tracking of childhood blood pressure (BP). To the authors' knowledge, the point prevalence of elevated BP among primary school children in Kano Metropolis, Kano State, Nigeria has not been documented. Objective: To determine the BP levels and the point prevalence of elevated BP among primary school children in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A multistage sampling technique was used to select 2000 pupils from 66 primary schools in Kano aged 6–14 years. Data were collected using a standardized pretested questionnaires completed by the parents/guardians. BP was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer. Average of three readings was recorded for each pupil as his/her BP. Weight and height were also recorded using standard techniques. Elevated BP was defined using the criteria by the 4th task force, according to age, gender, and height. Results: A total of 2000 pupils were studied with 1058 females and 942 boys with a ratio of 1.1:1. The mean systolic blood pressures (SBP) among males and females were 93.17 ± 8.70 and 94.28 ± 9.06 mm Hg while the mean diastolic blood pressures (DBP) were 59.1 ± 6.9 and 60.3 ± 6.9 mm Hg, respectively. Overall, there was a significant positive correlation between SBP (r = 0.44) and DBP (r = 0.38) with body mass index (BMI). Using criteria by the 4th report, 3% of pupils had elevated BP in this study. Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between SBP/DBP and BMI, the overall prevalence rate of elevated BP among the study population was 3%.