Sir,
We thank commenter(s) for taking interest in our study titled “Prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in schoolchildren from Central India” Published in the May–August 2019 issue of the journal.[1]
Our study was conducted as part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Jai Vigyan mission mode project on “community control of rheumatic fever/rheumatic heart disease” (2007–2014). We used the “Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents” published in 2004 because it was the only reference standard available till 2017 when we conducted the study.[2]
The study of Sayeemuddin et al. referred by the commenter(s) was also based on the same reference standard.[3] To the best of our knowledge, the study of Sayeemuddin et al., from a single center, based on selected group of children from higher social strata, without any multivariate analysis, has not formed a basis for creating Indian pediatric population blood pressure reference centile curves.[3]
We have included children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in our study to take care of possible variation in blood pressure that might occur based on nutritional, ethnic, and socioeconomic variables that has been referred by the commenter(s).
Financial support and sponsorship
The present study was conducted as part of Jai Vigyan Mission mode project on “Community Control of Rheumatic fever/Rheumatic Heart Disease” and funded by the ICMR, New Delhi, India.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgment
We acknowledge the valuable guidance from late Professor R. Tandon for designing and conducting the study.
REFERENCES
- 1.Patel A, Bharani A, Sharma M, Bhagwat A, Ganguli N, Chouhan DS, et al. Prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in schoolchildren from central India. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2019;12:90–6. doi: 10.4103/apc.APC_13_18. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2004;114:555–76. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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