Resting heart rate is associated with blood pressure in male children and adolescents

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the association between resting heart rate and blood pressure in male children and adolescents and to identify if this association is mediated by important confounders.

Study design: Cross-sectional study carried out with 356 male children and adolescents from 8 to 18 years old. Resting heart rate was measured by a portable heart rate monitor according to recommendations and stratified into quartiles. Blood pressure was measured with an electronic device previously validated for pediatric populations. Body fatness was estimated by a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.

Results: Obese subjects had values of resting heart rate 7.8% higher than nonobese (P = .001). Hypertensive children and adolescents also had elevated values of resting heart rate (P = .001). When the sample was stratified in nonobese and obese, the higher quartile of resting heart rate was associated with hypertension in both groups of children and adolescents.

Conclusions: This study confirms the existence of a relationship between elevated resting heart rate and increased blood pressure in a pediatric population, independent of adiposity, ethnicity and age.