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Elevated blood pressure among primary school children in Dar es salaam, Tanzania: prevalence and risk factors

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dc.contributor.author Muhihi, Alfa J.
dc.contributor.author Njelekela, Marina A.
dc.contributor.author Mpembeni, Rose N. M.
dc.contributor.author Muhihi, Bikolimana G.
dc.contributor.author Anaeli, Amani
dc.contributor.author Chillo, Omary
dc.contributor.author Kubhoja, Sulende
dc.contributor.author Lujani, Benjamin
dc.contributor.author Maghembe, Mwanamkuu
dc.contributor.author Ngarashi, Davis
dc.date.accessioned 2024-09-04T12:54:53Z
dc.date.available 2024-09-04T12:54:53Z
dc.date.issued 2018
dc.identifier.citation Muhihi et al., (2018). Elevated blood pressure among primary school children in Dar es salaam, Tanzania: prevalence and risk factors. BMC Pediatrics, 18:54 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1052-8 en_US
dc.identifier.other https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1052-8
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.mocu.ac.tz/xmlui/handle/123456789/1451
dc.description A full text article from the collection of Co-operative Development and Management en_US
dc.description.abstract Background: Whilst the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing in developing countries, little data is available on blood pressure among Tanzanian children. This study aimed at determining the blood pressure profiles and risk factors associated with elevated blood pressure among primary school children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 446 children aged 6–17 years from 9 randomly selected primary schools in Dar es Salaam. We measured blood pressure using a standardized digital blood pressure measuring machine (Omron Digital HEM-907, Tokyo, Japan). We used an average of the three blood pressure readings for analysis. Elevated blood pressure was defined as average systolic or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90th percentile for age, gender and height. Results: The proportion of children with elevated blood pressure was 15.2% (pre-hypertension 4.4% and hypertension 10.8%). No significant gender differences were observed in the prevalence of elevated BP. Increasing age and overweight/obese children were significantly associated with elevated BP (p = 0.0029 and p < 0.0001) respectively. Similar associations were observed for age and overweight/obesity with hypertension. (p = 0.0506 and p < 0.0001) respectively. In multivariate analysis, age above 10 years (adjusted RR = 3.63, 95% CI = 1.03–7.82) was significantly and independently associated with elevated BP in this population of school age children. Conclusions: We observed a higher proportion of elevated BP in this population of school age children. Older age and overweight/obesity were associated with elevated BP. Assessment of BP and BMI should be incorporated in school health program in Tanzania to identify those at risk so that appropriate interventions can be instituted before development of associated complications. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher BMC Pediatrics en_US
dc.subject Prevalence en_US
dc.subject Elevated en_US
dc.subject Blood pressure en_US
dc.subject Age en_US
dc.subject Overweight en_US
dc.subject Obesity en_US
dc.subject Children en_US
dc.subject Tanzania en_US
dc.title Elevated blood pressure among primary school children in Dar es salaam, Tanzania: prevalence and risk factors en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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