MONDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has found that there is currently insufficient evidence to weigh the benefits and harms of screening for primary hypertension in children and adolescents in order to prevent subsequent cardiovascular disease, according to a final Recommendation Statement published online Oct. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Virginia M. Moyer, M.D., M.P.H., on behalf of the USPSTF, reviewed the evidence to update the 2003 recommendation statement on high blood pressure screening for children and adolescents. Evidence was reviewed on screening and diagnostic accuracy of screening tests; the effectiveness and harms of treatment of screen-detected childhood hypertension; and the correlation of hypertension with markers of cardiovascular disease.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that there was currently insufficient evidence to weigh the balance of benefit and harms of screening for primary hypertension in asymptomatic children and adolescents in order to prevent the development of cardiovascular disease. This recommendation applies to children and adolescents who do not have symptoms of hypertension, per the report.
"We call on the research community to strengthen the evidence base linking screening and treatment of high blood pressure in children and teens to their long-term cardiovascular health," USPSTF member Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., said in a statement.
