Prehypertension in young females, where do they stand?

Abstract

Background: To determine the prevalence of prehypertension in young females and its correlation to various parameters like body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC) and family history, and blood pressure (BP) response to exercise stress testing.

Methods: One hundred and fifty apparently healthy females of age group 18-25-years were randomly selected from the student population of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha, after satisfying all the inclusion criteria and written informed consent. Along with all the anthropometric parameters BMI, WHR, WC and family history of hypertension (HTN) and/or diabetes, resting BP, and BP response to exercise stress testing were measured in the study.

Results: Amongst 150 subjects, 63 (42%) subjects were normotensive and 87 (58%) were prehypertensive. Body mass index, WHR, WC and family history of HTN were significantly higher in prehypertensive group. Prehypertensive group also had an exaggerated BP response to exercise stress testing and higher BP during recovery.

Conclusion: Prevalence of prehypertension was found to be high in females, also there was a strong correlation between prehypertension and BMI, WHR and WC suggesting a positive correlation between obesity and prehypertension. Prehypertensive group also showed an exaggerated BP response to exercise stress testing.