Abstract
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: None.
Background
Hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor, responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. Despite therapeutic progress, blood pressure control remains insufficient.
Purpose
The aim of our study was to identify the factors associated with poor blood pressure control in the elderly.
Methods
This was a descriptive study with a prospective data collection including 101 hypertensive treated subjects, aged 65 years and over, followed on outpatient basis between November and December 2019 at the cardiology consultation either at the Habib Thameur hospital or at the Materi hospital.
Results
Median age was 73 and sex ratio 0.57. The major cardiovascular risk factor was diabetes in 60.4% of cases, followed by dyslipidaemia 48.5% and smoking 40.6%. A history of coronary syndrome was present in 36.6% of cases, followed by atrial fibrillation in 19.8% and 12.9% had a history of ischemic stroke. Thirty-three percent realized regular physical activity and 31% had a high-sodium diet. Four percent of our patients were completely dependent. Among our patients aged 80 and over, 68.2% were frail.
The prevalence of poor blood pressure control was 59%.
Adherence to treatment was satisfactory in 75.2% of cases.
Twelve percent of patients had information about their condition and 89% knew the dosage and schedule for their medication.
In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with poor blood pressure control were: non-compliance with treatment (adjusted OR = 0.19; p = 0.013), frailty (adjusted OR = 7.194; p = 0.004), the number of antihypertensive tablets (Adjusted OR = 0.382; p = 0.008), non-use of thiazide diuretics (adjusted OR = 25.903; p = 0.001) and the patient"s lack of knowledge of antihypertensive treatment (adjusted OR = 0.56; p = 0.008).
Conclusion
Detection of the risk of non-compliance, the use of thiazide diuretics, reducing the number of antihypertensive tablets, screening for frailty and informing the patient about his treatment are necessary to improve blood pressure control in the elderly.
Potential Benefits of Caffeine Alone or in Combination with Nitrate Supplementation in Blood Pressure Control in the Elderly
