PEDIATRICS Vol. 74 No. 6 December 1984, pp. 1016-1021
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Resting Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate Distributions in Black Adolescents: The Philadelphia Blood Pressure Project

Mary L. Hediger AB1, Joan I. Schall BA1, Solomon H. Katz PhD1, Alan B. Gruskin MD1, and Phyllis B. Eveleth PhD1

1 From The W. M. Krogman Center for Research in Child Growth and Development, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia; and The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Reference percentile distributions for blood pressure in black adolescents are not generally available. The most recently published BP percentile grids for children and adolescents were derived almost exclusively from information on white populations, and few data are available on the distribution of pulse rate for black adolescents. Reference percentiles for black adolescents for resting BP and 60-second pulse rate are presented. Given the tendency for high BP levels to track, these reference percentiles may be of value in determining the extent to which black adolescents are at risk for hypertensive disorders in adulthood. The percentiles were derived from a 3-year longitudinal study of black, urban Philadelphia adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years. Confirming results from studies of other populations in adolescence, a trend was found toward increased mean systolic BP for boys (P < .001), and that boys have significantly higher (P < .001) systolic BP than girls after chronologic age 15 years. Diastolic BP phase IV (muffling) exhibits no age or sex trends from ages 12 to 17 years, but adolescent girls overall have significantly higher (P < .001) phase V diastolic (disappearance) than boys. Sixty-second pulse rate declines for both boys and girls in adolescence, although at every age 60-second pulse rate means are significantly faster in girls than boys (P < .02). For girls older than 12 to 17 years, there is a significant, positive correlation between pulse rate and systolic BP (r = .16, P < .01) and between pulse rate and phase IV diastolic (r = .23, P < .01). On the other hand, pulse rate and BP are not significantly correlated in 12- to 17-year-old boys (r = -.04 systolic BP, r = .06 diastolic BP phase IV).

Key Words: blood pressure • pulse rate • body size • adolescents

Submitted on October 17, 1983
Accepted on February 1, 1984




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