Anthropometric Indicators as Predictors of High Blood Pressure in Adolescents

作者：Beck Carmem Cristina^*; Lopes Adair da Silva; Gondim Pitanga Francisco Jose

来源：Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia, 2011, 96(2): 126-133.

DOI：10.1590/S0066-782X2010005000153

• Anthropometry
• prediction
• hypertension
• obesity
• adolescent

Background: Hypertension is related to increased body fat, which can be evaluated by anthropometric indicators.
Objective: To determine the predictive power of anthropometric indicators and establish their cutoff points as discriminators of high blood pressure.
Methods: Cross-sectional study with a sample of 660 adolescents aged 14 to 19 including 51.9% girls. We considered the following anthropometric indicators, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and conicity index. High blood pressure was characterized by values above the 90(th) percentile for systolic and diastolic blood pressure. To identify predictors of high blood pressure, we adopted the analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) with a confidence interval of 95%. Subsequently, we identified the cutoff points with their relevant sensitivities and specificities.
Results: The areas under the ROC curves with confidence intervals were boys - waist circumference = 0.80 (0.72 to 0.89); BMI = 0.79 (0.68 to 0.89), waist-to-height ratio = 0.77 (0.66 to 0.88); concicity index - 0.69 (0.56 to 0.81) and for girls - waist circumference 0.96 (0.92 to 1.00); BMI 0.95 (0.87 to 1.00), waist-to-height ratio = 0.93 (0.85 to 1.00); conicity index = 0.74 (0.50 to 0.98). The different cutoff points of anthropometric indicators with better predictive power and their relevent sensitivities and specificities were identified.
Conclusion: Although the waist-to-height ratio and BMI have shown good areas under the ROC curve, we suggest the use of waist circumference to predict high blood pressure. (Arq Bras Cardiol 2011: 126-133)