Original Research Paper

Prevalence Of Hypertension And Pre-hypertension Among Adolescents Attending Secondary And Higher Secondary Schools In Urban Area Of Western - Nepal

Abstract :

Introduction: Hypertension is considered as an adulthood disease. The need of regular monitoring and screening of blood pressure among adolescents was not given much importance in the past, reason being hypertension was considered as an adult disease and study conducted to determine the prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension among adolescents attending secondary and higher secondary schools in urban area of western Nepal.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on adolescents of aged 10-19 years in secondary schools in Siddharthanagar Bhairahawa, Nepal. The multi-stage sampling method was used to select the subjects. Data was collected with the help of questionnaire. Weight, height, and blood pressure were measured and recorded. Results: Total study population was 700 and out of which 326 (46.6%) were males and 374 (53.4%) were females. Among underweight group, 90.8% had normal blood pressure and 4.1% were hypertensive. Among obese, prehypertensive were 7.8% and 6.1% were hypertensive. 7.2% overweight were prehypertensive and 3.6% were hypertensive. Prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension was more in overweight and obese group in comparison with normal weight group. The total mean systolic blood pressure was 107.98.7 and total mean diastolic blood pressure was 75.38.1 Conclusion: Periodic blood pressure monitoring as part of the school health programme is the need of the hour. Hypertension exists among secondary school adolescents in Urban schools of western region of Nepal, with a prevalence of 6.1% among the obese and 3.6% among overweight child.

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