Is the height percentile requirement an obstacle to effectively using the tables, particularly in the dental setting?
Kaelber: Yes, determining a child’s height percentile requires the clinician to first know the child’s height, as well as age and gender, and then to use a graph or equation to determine the height percentile. Although this approach is the most accurate, in many settings determining the height and then the height percentile can be time consuming. Pickett: In order to resolve this issue, Dr. Kaelber and I have created a simplified table (Table 1).2 When blood pressure values equal or are higher than the values listed in the simplified table for the child’s sex and age, the child should be referred for medical evaluation of blood pressure. The Simplified Table Q What are the advantages of the simplified table, as well as its limitations? Pickett: The simplified table is based only on gender and age, identifies only one threshold value of abnormal systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and has 100% sensitivity. However, it can produce false positive values in some children in higher heigh
