Using Anthropometric Indicator to Identify Hypertension in Adolescents: A Study in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the predictive power of anthropometric indicators and recommend cutoff points to discriminate hypertension among adolescents in Sarawak, Malaysia. A total of 2461 respondents aged 12-17 years participated in this study with mean age of 14.5±1.50 years. All anthropometric indicators had significant area under the ROC curve, with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) ranging from 0.7 to 0.8. The best anthropometric indicators for predicting hypertension for boys were WC, BMI, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). For girls, BMI was the best indicators followed by WHtR and WC. The recommended BMI cutoff point for boys was 20 kg/m2 and 20.7 kg/m2 for girls. For WC, the recommended cutoff point was 67.1 cm for boys and 68.2 cm for girls. BMI and WC indicators were recommended to be used at the school setting where the measurement can easily be conducted.