More people from sub-Saharan Africa aged between 20 years and 60 years are affected by end-organ damage due to underlying hypertension than people in high-income countries. However, there is a paucity of data on the pattern of elevated blood pressure among adolescents aged 10–19 years in sub-Saharan Africa. In this systematic review and meta-analysis the authors aimed to provide pooled estimates of high blood pressure prevalence and mean levels in adolescents aged 10–19 years across sub-Saharan Africa.

To the authors' knowledge, this systematic review and meta-analysis is the first systematic synthesis of blood pressure data specifically derived from adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Although many low-income countries were not represented in the study, the findings suggest that approximately one in ten adolescents have elevated blood pressure across sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to improve preventive heart-health programmes in the region.