HYPERTENSION;

ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HYPERTENSION AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUTPATIENTS ABOUT THEIR HEALTH STATUS: A MULTICENTER, CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN MULTAN, PAKISTAN.

Abstract

Background and Objectives:Asymptomatic nature of hypertension (HTN) has made it a silent killer. The better understanding of the underlying causes or factors can be beneficial in reducing the mortality and morbidity rate. Thus, the present study aims to determine the risk factors associated with HTN among adults and elderly patients visiting outpatient departments (OPDs) and the knowledge of patients about their health status. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Outpatient departments (OPDs) of four tertiary care hospitals (Nishtar hospital, Khawaja Farid Social Security hospital, Railway hospital and Bakhtawar Amin Memorial hospital) of Multan, Pakistan. Period:1^st May 2017 and 31^st October 2017. Patients and Methods:364 patients (≥18 years−≥60 years of age) in OPDs of four tertiary care hospitals of Multan, Pakistan. Data regarding demographic details, medical history and blood pressure measurements were collected on a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) and Microsoft Excel (MS Office 2010).Result: Overall 38.7% of the participants were suffering from HTN. Most of them were 40-59 years of age and had body mass index (BMI) >23 kg/m². Bivariate analysis (p-value <0.005) showed a significant association of age, marital status, gender, weight, and physical activity with HTN. Conclusion: The major determinants of HTN include increase in age, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, genetics, diabetes mellitus (DM) and lack of health concerns. Although patients are knowledgeable of their poor health status but make little or no efforts in controlling and preventing HTN.