Hypertension among adolescents in Nigeria: a retrospective study of adolescent university freshmen.

Purpose The burden of hypertension is rising both globally and in Africa specifically. We determined the prevalence of hypertension and the risk factors for clinical hypertension in a population of new university intakes over a 4-year period. Methods We analyzed retrospectively, the records of 6980 older adolescents (15-19 years). We used population-specific metrics to categorize blood pressure (BP) based on the 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Results The overall prevalence of high BP in our study was 25.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 24.1-26.2] for elevated BP, 19.8% (95% CI 18.9-20.8) for stage 1 hypertension, and 5.5% (95% CI 5.0-6.1) for stage 2 hypertension. The prevalence of stage 2 hypertension was 8.7% (7.5-9.5) among the male participants and 3.2% (95% CI 2.7-3.2) among the female participants (p < 0.001). The multivariate analyses demonstrated an increased risk of high levels of BP (p < 0.001) with age (1.21: 95% CI 1.16-1.26), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) (1.05: 95% CI 1.04-1.05), z-score for body mass index (BMI) (1.47: 95% CI 1.41-1.54), and hemoglobin concentration (1.10: 95% CI 1.09-1.12). It demonstrated a reduced risk of high levels of BP (p < 0.001) being female (0.35: 95% CI 0.32-0.39). Conclusions Hypertension, its risk factors and the risk of cardiovascular diseases in later life are prevalent in our Nigerian adolescent population. There is, therefore, a need for the development, evaluation and implementation of context-appropriate strategies and interventions to mitigate the risk of hypertension among adolescents, and cardiovascular diseases later in life.