BLOOD-PRESSURE TRACKING IN KOREAN SCHOOLCHILDREN

Background. Many studies have examined the brood pressure tracking amo ng children and adolescents, but the results have been mixed. This stu dy examined blood pressure tracking in 304 Korean school children foll owing them for 5 years from age 6 to 11. Methods. in addition to the e xamination of relative ranking, in percentile groups, of blood pressur e and time-lag correlation analysis, we used the McMahan's tracking in dex, tau (tau), which indicates the proportion of variation attributab le to tracking apart from the natural growth (increase) component. Res ults. There was strong evidence for tracking during the pre-teen years , particularly when it was analysed using McMahan's tracking index. Ta u for systolic blood pressure was 0.877 (+/- 0.028) in males and 0.792 (+/- 0.044) in females. For diastolic blood pressure tau was found to be 0.924 (+/- 0.070) in males and 0.762 (+/- 0.075) in females. Concl usions. This study supported the existence of blood pressure tracking in children, but data were insufficient to examine the effect of puber ty on tracking. The need for further research is emphasized with the a im of incorporating biological and behavioural factors and targeting p reventive intervention.