Blood pressure percentiles in a group of Nigerian school age children

Background: Determination of abnormal blood pressure (BP) in children is dependent on comparison with normal percentile values. The commonly used National Institute of Health (NIH) standard is generated from childrenoutside of Africa.Objective: To develop BP percentile values for Nigerian childrenbased on BP cuff width 40% to 50% of arm circumference.Methods: Subjects were pupils from nine primary schools in Midwestern Nigeria recruited using a multi-stage sampling technique. Their BP was measured using a cuff width of 40 to 50% of arm circumference and cuff length of at least 80% of arm circumference respectively. The mean of two BP readings were taken. Hypertension was defined as systolic and or diastolic BP >95th percentile of the study population.Results: There were 1549 subjects, aged 5 to 15 years, of which 757 (48.9%) were males. Prevalence of hypertension was 2.6%. Only age and weight were independent predictors of both elevated systolic and diastolic BP. The 5th, 10th, 50th, 90th and 95th percentiles of Systolic and diastolic BP were generated for both males and females pupils.Conclusion: BP Percentiles have been generated using BP cuff width 40 to 50% of the arm circumference for Nigerian children.Keyword: Blood pressure; hypertension; childhood; percentil