Prevalence of hypertension and microalbuminuria in children of hypertensive and non-hypertensive parents in Calabar, Nigeria: A comparative study

Background: High blood pressure (HBP) and microalbuminuria are common in children of parents with hypertension. Microalbuminuria is a strong predictor of early stage hypertension as well as kidney injury. Objective: This study therefore aimed to determine the prevalence of HBP and microalbuminuria among children of hypertensive parents. Methods: This was a comparative study involving 176 children aged 6-15 years of hypertensive parents attending the hypertension clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) and 176 children aged 6-15 years of normotensive health workers. Blood pressure, anthropometric indices were measured. Also, body mass index (BMI) and waist –hip-ratio (WHR) were calculated according to standard protocols. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) on a spot early morning urine sample obtained from all the participants was measured. Subjects with UACR >20-30mg/g were taken as having microalbuminuria. Data were analysed using SPSS version 25.0, with significant p-value set at 0.05. Results: Five (2.8%) out of 176, of the subjects had high BP, while one (0.6%) out of 176 of children of normotensive parents had HBP. The difference in prevalence was not statistically significant (p=0.061). There were no differences in the BMI and WHR in the two groups. None of the children in the study had microalbuminuria. However, mean urine albumin: creatinine ratio was higher in the subjects compared with controls. Conclusion: The prevalence of high BP among children of hypertensive parents was not significantly higher than that of children of normotensive parents and none of them had microalbuminuria.