Prevalence of factors affecting prognosis in arterial hypertension, and total cardiovascular risk assessment

Abstract

Aim. To study prevalence of risk factors (RF), target organ damage (TOD), and associated clinical conditions (ACC) in arterial hypertension (AH) patients, for total cardiovascular risk assessment. Material and methods. Epidemiological AH survey including 3661 males and 6334 males, aged 15+ years, from a representative national sample, was performed as part of the Program «AH Prevention and Treatment in the Russian Federation». Results. AH males, comparing to hypertensive females, had lower education level, smoked and drunk alcohol excessively more often (48.3% vs 7.9%; 6.8% vs 1.9%, respectively). In females, obesity prevalence was higher: 34.9% vs 18.1% in males. One-fifth of hypertensive patients had hypertensive retinopathy, 41% - left ventricular hypertrophy. Coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence was higher in males - 22.3% vs 17.6% in females; the prevalence of other ACC was similar in both genders. In females, Stage III AH was diagnosed more often: 6.3% vs 4.2% in males. Antihypertensive therapy was administered to 59.5% of males and 73.8% of females, but treatment effectiveness was low – 12.9% and 13.5%, respectively. In untreated hypertensive patients, very high risk was typical for women (6.0% vs 3.9% in men); in treated patients, more than 80% remained in high and very high risk groups. Conclusion. In AH individuals, RF, TOD, and ACC, as well as poor BP control, are prevalent, that explained high risk level for the majority of patients.

Keywords

• arterial hypertension
• risk factors
• target organ damage
• associated clinical conditions
• total risk