Biologic Measures as Epidemiological Indicators of Risk for the Development of Hypertension in an African American Adolescent Population

Globally, the health disparity of hypertension is disproportionately greater within the African American population and develops at an earlier age. Elevated and continuous interaction of biologic measures during adolescence may be precursors and indicators of risk for blood pressure changes and the subsequent development of adult essential hypertension. The purpose of this study was to describe (1) the prevalence of biologic measures of risk of hypertension, specifically family history of hypertension, prehypertension, elevated salivary cortisol, and hyperresponsive cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity, and (2) the gender difference in the prevalence of biologic risk factors of hypertension. Subjects and Method: This was an exploratory descriptive design with a nonrandom purposive sample. Participants (N = 106) were high school, African American adolescents, aged 14 to 18 years. Data, including family history of hypertension, resting blood pressure, and blood pressure and cortisol levels before and after induced physiologic stress by cold water hand immersion, were measured. Results: One hundred six African American participants (49 males and 57 females) completed the study. Data described that 71% had a positive family history of hypertension. Overall, the resting blood pressures were 120 mm Hg for systolic and 68 mm Hg for diastolic. Forty-one percent of the patients had prehypertensive blood pressures; 86% had elevated cortisol; 49% had hyperresponsive blood pressure reactivity; and 35% had cortisol hyperresponsivity. Excluding ethnicity, 65% had 3 or more biologic measures of risk of hypertension. Statistically significant gender differences included male systolic pressure and number of males with prehypertension. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of the high prevalence of multiple physiologic biologic measures of risk of hypertension factors within a vulnerable population. The continuous interaction of biologic measures over time may increase the susceptibility and risk of essential hypertension development and supports the development of appropriate physiologically based behavioral interventions.