Date: July 7, 2008

Summary: Using an analysis of several other studies published between 1970 and 2006, the authors of the study recommend the best ways to measure blood pressure in childhood.

Journal: Hypertension

Journal citation: Hypertension. 2008;51:642-649

Read the original article: http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/51/3/642

Why it’s important: High blood pressure in childhood can be a major predictor of chronic high blood pressure in adulthood.  Elevated blood pressure (prehypertension and hypertension) can lead to a number of more serious health problems and affects about 60 percent of American adults. Because children’s blood pressure has not been routinely measured until recently, no studies have yet examined which method of measuring blood pressure is most effective at monitoring and tracking blood pressure problems in children.

What’s already known: There is no agreement yet about how to best measure blood pressure in children, especially as it relates to measuring the diastolic pressure (lower or bottom number of a blood pressure reading).  Currently. diastolic blood pressure in children is either taken to be the pressure recorded when the sound heard through the stethoscope becomes muffled (the K4 phase) or when the sound disappears (the K5 phase).  Most guidelines recommend using K5. It is known that keeping track of blood pressure problems in childhood is important in preventing or managing problematic high blood pressure in adulthood.

How this study was done: This study examined 50 previous studies, published between 1970 and 2006, about tracking high blood pressure from childhood into adulthood. The authors analyzed the data from these prior studies to decide which methods worked best for measuring high blood pressure in children and in tracking high blood pressure throughout a patient’s lifetime.

What was found: The authors found that for long-term measurement and tracking of blood pressure in children, there were no substantial differences between the various methods used, although they did find that K5 was not superior to K4 in assessing diastolic blood pressure. However, the authors found that using automated blood pressure measurement devices for tracking blood pressure was at least as good as, and sometimes better than, using mercury-based devices called manometers. Additionally, the authors recommend taking several blood pressure measurements during each doctor’s visit, although taking three or more measurements did not improve tracking compared to taking two readings.   

The bottom line: Tracking blood pressure during childhood can be very important in preventing and treating blood pressure problems in adulthood and can be done relatively easily during routine medical visits using automated blood pressure measurement devices.



This content is reviewed regularly. Last updated 04/20/09.