Elk Grove Village, IL—(ENEWSPF)—October 7, 2013. An update from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) finds that there is not enough evidence to assess the benefit or harm of routine blood pressure screening in children who do not have symptoms of high blood pressure or an underlying health problem that could cause hypertension.
The recommendation, “Screening for Primary Hypertension inChildren and Adolescents: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement,” will appear in the November 2013 Pediatrics and is published online in Pediatrics Oct. 7, as well as in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The recommendation updates a previous statement from the USPSTF from 2003, which reached a similar conclusion.
Editor’s Note: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has endorsed guidelines from the National High Blood Pressure Education Program and guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents. Both of these guidelines recommend routine blood pressure screening for children aged 3 years and older.
Source: www.aap.org
