Blood pressure

Blood pressure was measured after 5 min of rest in the supine position. The measurement was repeated three times, and the average of the second and third measurements was used. The blood pressure values were compared to the distribution in an American reference population ²⁹, and blood pressure SDS was calculated according to the guidelines from the European Society of Hypertension ³⁵.

Until 10 June 2011, blood pressure was measured manually on the right arm by an aneroid sphygmomanometer (MaxiStabil3 ®, Speidel & Keller, Welch Allyn inc., New York, USA) using the auscultatory method in a total of 50 cases. After 10 June 2011, in a total of 166 cases and 47 controls, blood pressure was measured with an electronic sphygmomanometer (Omron 705IT ®, Omron Healthcare Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan). The device has been validated for use in children and adolescents who are normotensive ³⁶, and no significant difference was found comparing measurements performed by the device to manually measured blood pressure in 197 children ³⁶.