Factors affecting Blood Pressure Control in Elderly Koreans with Hypertension

• Published in: Research journal of pharmacy and technology 2018-04, Vol.11 (4), p.1398-1403
• Main Authors: Kwon, Myoung-Jin, Ahn, Sung-Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Age; Blood pressure; Data analysis; Disease control; Hypertension; Middle class; Nursing; Nutrition; Older people; Regression analysis; Sleep; Socioeconomic factors; Upper class
• ISSN: 0974-3618; 0974-360X; 0974-306X
• DOI: 10.5958/0974-360X.2018.00261.5

Background/Objectives :The prevalence of hypertension increases with advancing age.Uncontrolled hypertension can lead to cerebral- and cardio-vascular diseases. Methods/Statistical analysis: This was a cross-sectional secondary data analysis study that aimed to identify factors influencingblood pressure control in elderly hypertensive patients, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).Out of the 7,380 respondents to the third-year (2015) survey of the 6th NHANES, 774 elderly patients who had been diagnosed with hypertension by a physician were enrolled for this study. Findings: In the logistic regression analysis, hypertension control was significantly worse in the group with a spouse compared to the group without a spouse (OD: 0.504, 95% CI: 0.281-0.905), the group with 1 person in the household than the group with 3 or more persons in the household (OD: 0.553, 95% CI: 0.312-0.982), and the "upper-middle class" group than the "upper class" group (OD: 0.449, 95% CI: 0.203-0.984). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that blood pressure control was significantly better in the cerebral infarction group than in the non-cerebral infarction group (Odds ratio [OR]: 2.360, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.290-4.316). Furthermore, blood pressure control was significantly worse in the group of patients with less than 6 hours of sleep (OR: 0.266, 95% CI: 0.114-0.619) and the group of patients with 6-8 hours of sleep (OR: 0.425, 95% CI: 0.199-0.905) than in the group of patients with more than 8 hours of sleep. Improvements/Applications: The findings of this study are meaningful as foundational data to develop interventional programs for aiding in the control of blood pressure among the elderly with hypertension.