Optimization of Blood Pressure in Adult Hypertensive Patients with Lifestyle Modifications

Abstract

Objective: To determine the impact of lifestyle on the optimization of blood pressure in adult hypertensive patients

Study Design: Quasi-experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, Aug 2019 to Jan 2020

Methodology: The study population comprised of 200 hypertension patients reporting for routine follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups. Group-A (controls) had the patients with the continuation of the routine anti-hypertensive medication. At the same time, Group-B (cases) received lifestyle modifications (salt restriction, quitting smoking and daily step count by using a pedometer) in addition to the routine anti-hypertension medication. Control of blood pressure among the groups was compared three months after the start of the study.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 46.50±3.56 years. The mean duration of hypertension in the study participants was 5.12±3.24 years. Optimal blood pressure was achieved in 103(51.5%), while this was not achieved in 97(48.5%). With the help of binary logistic regression analysis, we found a statistically significant difference in achieving optimal blood pressure control among the cases and controls. Gender was also statistically significant in achieving control of blood pressure (pvalue<0.001).

Conclusion: This study showed a significant difference in optimizing the blood pressure of patients who received lifestyle modification in addition to conventional biological treatment than those who only received the routine anti-hypertensive medication. Females also had better control as compared to males.