Assessment of arterial blood pressure and some biochemical markers of renal function of apparently healthy young adults in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Context: Reports on chronic hypertension and its attendant complications in young adults are increasing. Kidney diseases, associated with hypertension, are currently emerging as global public health problem. Despite their significance as the active work force in the country, there is a dearth of data on the blood pressure and renal status of young Nigerian adults.
Aim: To measure mean arterial blood pressure and some biochemical indices of renal function of apparently healthy young adults aged between sixteen and thirty-five years, having blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg
Settings and design: A total of 650 attendees were randomly selected from five religious congregations across three major cities of Akwa Ibom in Nigeria and used in a cross-sectional study.
Material and methods: Arterial blood pressure, serum electrolytes, urea and creatinine of the subjects were determined using standard procedures. Glomerular filtration rate was calculated using the values of serum creatinine.
Results: The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of tested population were 132.50±4.16 and of 84.36±4.35mmHg respectively. The population mean GFR was 64.56 ±3.28 mL/min/1.73m2, while that of the male and female were 70.50±4.11 mL/min/1.73m2 and 58.20 mL/min/1.73m2 respectively. The values of 144.11±3.34, 5.65± 0.31, 103.04±3.02, 23.81±0.14. 4.74±0.08 and 142.04±3.22 were obtained in mmol/L for sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea and creatinine respectively for males, while the values obtained for females were 141.25±3.58, 4.93±0.11, 101.53± 2.18, 22.18±0.63, 4.02±0.03 and 137.05±4.16 respectively for sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea and creatinine,
Conclusion: It was concluded that Nigerian young adults have average arterial blood pressure within the JNC pre-hypertensive range, with mild to moderate derangements in the tested renal function parameters.