Abstract

KLUNDER-KLUNDER, Miguel  and  FLORES-HUERTA, Samuel. Discarding the first measurement and considering blood pressure as the average of three subsequent measurements reflect more stable blood pressure values in children. Bol. Med. Hosp. Infant. Mex. [online]. 2013, vol.70, n.1, pp.11-18. ISSN 1665-1146.

Background. In childhood and adolescence, evaluating blood pressure requires an appropriately trained personnel team, taking more than one measurement and knowing the age, gender and weight/height percentile. However, there is little information as to why three or more measurements should be taken. It is also not known if the first measured values may reflect a reactive effect referred to as ''white coat hypertension'' in children. The objective of the present work was to estimate differences in prevalence rates and figures between consecutive measurements of blood pressure. Methods. There were 2247 children and adolescents from 6 to 16 years of age who participated in the study. Weight and height were measured and blood pressure was taken four times at 1- to 2-min intervals. The average differences in blood pressure between different measurements were also compared. In addition, the prevalence of high blood pressure using different measurements were obtained and compared. Results. Blood pressure readings obtained in the first measurement were higher than the values of the average of two to four measurements. With the first measurement, the prevalence of systolic blood pressure was 2.6 versus 1.9% of the average measurements, whereas for diastolic hypertension the prevalence rates were 4.8 versus 3.4%. Conclusions. The highest value of the figures of the first blood pressure measurement may be the effect of the child's reaction without translating to a permanent increase. It confirms the importance of discarding the first measurement and avoidance of overestimation of the prevalence of high blood pressure.

Keywords : blood pressure; obesity; children.