Assessment Of Blood Pressure and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Hypertensive Patients: An Observational Study

Objective . Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important tool in the assessment of treatment outcomes. Healthcare professionals use the concept of HRQoL to measure factors other than illness which affect human health and its status. Patient's everyday activities are adversely affected by hypertension (HTN) and results in decreased self-confidence. The present study was aimed to assess blood pressure and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of hypertensive patients in Pakistan. Methods . A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was undertaken with 384 hypertensive patients attending a tertiary care public sector hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan. The assessment of HRQoL was done by using an EuroQol EQ-5D scale. Values derived from the UK general population survey were used to score HRQoL. Me blood pressure of each patient was measured by using a calibrated sphygmomanometer. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS version 21 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). P <=.05 was taken as significant. Results . Two hundred and fifteen (56%) patients were male with 3.31 +/- 2.13 years of history of hypertension. The majority (n =138, 35.9%) was categorized in the age group of 41 to 50 years with mean age of 50.21 +/- 9.51. Mean (SD) systolic BP and mean (SD) diastolic BP was measured as 140.39 +/- 15.485 and 88.74 +/- 10.683 in mmHg respectively. Poor HRQoL was measured among the study participants (0.6456 +/- 0.2317). Age, gender, education, occupation and monthly income had a significant relation with HRQoL score. Conclusion . Hypertension imposes an adverse effect on patient's HRQoL. Results from this study could be useful in clinical practice. Attention is required to highlight determinants of HRQoL and policies should be implemented for better management of HTN, particularly in early treatment phases where it is still possible to improve HRQoL.