Duration of hypertension and prevalence of end-organ damage in hypertensive patients

The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of end-organ damage in hypertensive patients in a tertiary care hospital in Azad Kashmir. The study was conducted in a public sector teaching hospital of AJK-Medical College between March 2019 and Feb 2020. Adult hypertensive patients above the age of 27 years were included in the study from out-patient and in-patient departments. A standard Performa was used to collect and document the demographic information, medical history and physical examination of patients. The age, sex, residential area, marital status, education, profession, presenting complaints, smoking, addictions, functional status, and physical activity were recorded. The measurement of Blood Pressure (BP) was performed with a mercury sphygmomanometer and end-organs damage (Retinopathy, Nephropathy, Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease) was assessed by clinical evaluation and relevant investigations. A total of 100, hypertensive patients were enrolled in the study between the ages of 27 to 96 years. The mean age of the participants was 57 years (Std. deviation 17.8). 55% of patients were male while 45% of patients were female. 23% had good control of hypertension while 77% had poor control. 7% of participants were monitoring their BP on daily basis, 32% weekly, 39% once a month while 22% never had any schedule of monitoring their Blood Pressure. A family history of hypertension was present in 61%. Overall, 91% of the participants had retinopathy, 48% had nephropathy, 48% had cardiovascular disease and 19% had evidence of stroke. In conclusion, there is a high prevalence of End-Organ damage in middle age and elderly hypertensive patients. Keywords: Hypertension, hypertensive end-organ damage.