Resting Heart Rate is Associated with Blood Pressure in Male Children and Adolescents

ObjectivesTo 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 designCross-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.ResultsObese 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.ConclusionsThis 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.