[Health-related quality of life in hypertension: a gender-differentiated analysis in population of Cantabria.]

Objective: Hypertension is a major public health problem due to its high prevalence and morbi-mortality. It is associated with a worse health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim has been to know the HRQOL of the hypertensive population in a gender-differentiated analysis.

Methods: Cross-sectional study. Hypertensive patients attended in Primary Care were enrolled in the study. We evaluated HRQOL (using the EuroQol-5D questionnaire), four covariates related to hypertension (degree of control, duration of disease, use of antihypertensive drugs and target organ damage -TOD-), and sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical variables. Bivariate analysis was performed and two multivariate models were developed, with the EuroQol-5D index (iEQ) as the dependent variable.

Results: We analyzed 198 women (55.7%) and 157 men. Significantly, females had a lower educational level, spent more time alone, consumed more psychotropic medication, their iEQ was lower [0.887 (0.2) vs. 0.914 (0.1); p=0.0001] and scored worse in self-care, usual activities, pain / discomfort and anxiety / depression. In women, no variable related to hypertension presented a significant association with the iEQ after adjusting for confounders, and functional capacity was the most important covariate (β=0.35; p=0.0001). In males, TOD (β=0.18) and duration of the disease (β=0.16) were significantly associated with the iEQ, with the consumption of psychotropic medication being the most relevant covariate in the regression model (β=0.42; p=0.005).

Conclusions: Notable differences in HRQOL of women and men with hypertension have been noted. Detecting these differences allows us to know the frailest states of our patients.