Targeted screening of hypertension in childhood might be more efficient than universal screening. We estimated the sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values of combined parental history of hypertension and overweight/obesity for the diagnosis of hypertension in 5207 children aged 10-14 years. Children had hypertension if they had sustained elevated blood pressure over three separate visits. The prevalence of hypertension was 2.2%. 14% of children were overweight or obese, 20% had a positive history of hypertension in at least one parent and 30% had either or both conditions. Targeted screening of hypertension to children with either overweight/obesity or with hypertensive parents limits the proportion of children (30%) to screen and identifies up to 65% of all hypertensive cases.
Keywords: Hypertension; children; overweight; parental history; screening; sensitivity.