PROTEINURIA, OTHER SELECTED URINARY ABNORMALITIES AND HYPERTENSION AMONG TEENAGE SECONDARY-SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Four hundred and three teenage secondary school students (50.6% males) from two girls' and two boys' Nairobi City Schools, selected by strat ified sampling, were screened to determine the prevalence of proteinur ia, haematuria, nitrituria and hypertension, Nine students (2.2%) had significant proteinuria while 14 (3.5%) had microscopic haematuria, Tw o students had combined proteinuria and haematuria, There was no stati stically significant difference in the prevalence of proteinuria and/o r haematuria between the sexes, Other urinary abnormalities detected w ere leucocyturia in 14(3.5%) and nitrites in four (1%), Leucocyturia w as commonner in females (p=0.001), Cloudy urinary appearance was signi ficantly associated with the presence of leucocyturia (p=0.0028) and p roteinuria (p=0.0276). Neither personal history of recurrent sore thro at and skin infections nor family history of hypertension, diabetes me llitus or kidney disease was significantly associated with proteinuria or haematuria, Blood pressure tended to increase with age, Mean systo lic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in boys th an girls in the age group 15-18 years (P<0.001). Of the 397 students w hose blood pressures were measured, four (1%) were found to be hyperte nsive, Weight and body mass index were strong positive correlates of b lood pressure, The prevalence of proteinuria, haematuria, other urinar y abnormalities and hypertension ranges between 1% and 3.5% among teen age secondary school children, The majority are asymptomatic and have no significant associations. It is recommended that routine urinalysis and blood pressure measurements should be part of the school health s ervice so as to identify asymptomatic students who require close monit oring and/or intervention.