Persistent Hypertension in Children and Adolescents: A 6-Year Cohort Study

To determine the natural history of pediatric hypertension. We conducted a 72-month retrospective cohort study among 165 primary care sites. Blood pressure measurements from two consecutive 36 month periods were compared. Among 398 079 primary care pediatric patients ages 3 to 18, 89 347 had ≥3 blood pressure levels recorded during a 36-month period, and 43 825 children had ≥3 blood pressure levels for 2 consecutive 36-month periods. Among these 43 825 children, 4.3% (1881) met criteria for hypertension (3.5% [1515] stage 1, 0.8% [366] stage 2) and 4.9% (2144) met criteria for elevated blood pressure in the first 36 months. During the second 36 months, 50% (933) of hypertensive patients had no abnormal blood pressure levels, 22% (406) had elevated blood pressure levels or