Charles Agyemang|William K. Redekop|Ellis Owusu?Dabo|Marc Bruijnzeels
Blood pressure patterns in rural, semi-urban and urban children in the Ashanti region of Ghana, West Africa
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology|University of Ghana
abstract background high blood pressure rare rapidly becoming major public health burden subsaharanafrica unclear whether reflected children main purpose study assess blood pressure patterns among rural semiurban urban children determine association blood pressure locality body mass index bmi subsaharan africa setting methods conducted crosssectional survey among school children aged 816 years ashanti region ghana westafrica 1277 children study 616 boys 661 females 214 rural 296 semiurban 767 urban settings results blood pressure increased increasing age rural semiurban urban areas boys girls rural boys lower systolic diastolic blood pressure semiurban boys 1047623 vs 1092665 p lt 0001 lower systolic blood pressure urban boys 1047 vs 1076 p lt 001 girls higher blood pressure boys 1091667 vs 1075638 p lt 001 exception lower diastolic blood pressure amongst rural girls differences found rural girls 1074644 semiurban girls 1080661 urban girls 1098675 multiple linear regression analysis locality bmi independently associated blood pressure boys girls conclusion findings underscore urgent need public health measures prevent increasing blood pressure sequelae becoming another public health burden work blood pressure children subsaharan african developing countries needed prevent high blood pressure becoming major burden many countries