Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-3-2025

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Journal of Clinical Medicine, Volume 14, Issue 13, 2025, Article number 4699.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/JCM14134699. Copyright © 2025 by the authors.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The relationship between OSA and adult hypertension has been extensively studied; however, it remains understudied in pediatric patients without OSA. The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with pediatric hypertension without OSA, through an IRB-approved retrospective chart review of patients who underwent polysomnography at Nemours Children's Hospital, DE/NJ between January 2020 and July 2023. Methods: Eligibility criteria included children 8-17 years, completed PSG, and clinic visit blood pressure (BP). Anthropometrics, demographics, social determinants, and medical history were obtained from electronic medical records. Hypertension was defined as the average systolic and/or diastolic BP that is ≥95th percentile for gender, age, and height based on AAP Clinical Practice Guidelines. All variables were checked for normality. Chi-square tests for categorical data and Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous data were used to test significance between non-OSA non-hypertensives (NH) and hypertensives (H). p < 0.05 is considered significant. Results: Of 285 charts evaluated, 137 were classified as non-OSA. Patient information, including parents in household, smoking exposure, and food allergies, were statistically significant (p < 0.05) in hypertensive pediatric patients without OSA. Hypertension was significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with birth weight, BMI, daytime heart rate, systolic BP, and diastolic BP. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in mental illnesses, neurological disease, and respiratory disease. Among polysomnography parameters, only nighttime heart rate was found to be statistically significant. Conclusions: The data suggests that in pediatric patients without OSA, there are multiple factors and co-morbidities associated with hypertension. These factors and co-morbidities warrant additional follow up in clinical practice to mitigate the risks of hypertension in pediatric patients.

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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

40649073

Language

English

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