PAEDIATRIC HYPERTENSION IN NIGERIA IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 21ST CENTURY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

It is now known that NCDs cause 71% of all global deaths and 14.9% of all deaths in the paediatric age group (WHO, 2021) and an estimated 80% of these NCD-related deaths occur in LMICs (UNDESA, 2017). Current evidence suggests that risk factors for NCDs in adult life can be mitigated with appropriate preventive approaches throughout childhood (Hanson and Gluckman, 2014). Approaches to preventive efforts addressing NCDs and their risk factors that begin during childhood and adolescence may be the best option for reducing the long-term global burden of disease (Brumana et al, 2017). Hypertension is the most important factor driving the recent increase in prevalence of NCDs, being the major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It is also known that hypertension in childhood predicts worse outcomes for cardiovascular disease in adulthood and that risk factors for adult cardiovascular disease may be mitigated by interventions started in childhood. This makes it imperative that elevated blood pressure and hypertension be identified and characterized in Nigerian children to provide evidence for the implementation of large-scale interventions towards the reduction of NCDs in the country and the achievement of target 4 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3. This review thus focused on the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension in Nigerian children in the last 25 years with a view to evaluating the possibility of attainment of target 4 of SDG 3 which deadline for goal attainment is by 2030. Using the PEO (Population, Exposure, Outcome) model, this review seeks to answer the following questions: “what is the prevalence of hypertension in Nigerian children, and “what risk factors are associated with hypertension in Nigerian children?” The aim of this review is to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for hypertension in Nigerian children in the first quarter for the 21st century.