Theoretical aspects of hypertension in childhood and adolescence

Abstract

Introduction: high blood pressure in children and adolescents is an important health problem due to its increasing incidence and prevalence. Objective: to describe the useful theoretical elements on arterial hypertension in childhood and adolescence. Methods: at the ¨4 de Abril¨ Polyclinic in Guantánamo, between September and December 2021, a narrative review was carried out through searches in electronic databases (LILACS, PubMed, SciELO, Redalyc and Elsevier), of original articles and systematic reviews that include information related to arterial hypertension in childhood and adolescence. The Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT were used, as well as the advanced search strategy for the selection of articles. The analysis of the most relevant information was carried out and thus the final report was formed, through the use of 25 published articles. Results: aspects were described that support that arterial hypertension in childhood and adolescence is considered a chronic disease, where several risk factors interact, and in which a healthy lifestyle allows the control of the disease. It was reflected that the disease has primary or secondary causes, the different types of arterial hypertension, as well as the criteria of the American and European Guidelines. Conclusions: the useful theoretical aspects about arterial hypertension in childhood and adolescence are described.

Keywords

• adolescente
• factores de riesgo
• hipertensión
• presión arterial