Clinical-epidemiological characterization of hypertensive patients in a Santa Clara Medical Clinic

Abstract

Introduction: arterial hypertension is a chronic disease with high morbidity in the world population. Its approach represents a challenge for the health system at its different levels of care, but especially for the primary level, since it is here where the diagnosis and follow-up of most cases are carried out.

Objective:to clinically and epidemiologically characterize patients diagnosed with high blood pressure belonging to the 17-4 medical office in the municipality of Santa Clara.

Method: an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in the period from February to May 2021. The universe consisted of 193 hypertensive patients. The variables studied were: age, sex, skin color, risk factors, symptoms at the time of diagnosis, family history and drugs used for treatment.

Results: the age group from 40 to 59 years (48.7%), the female sex (58%) and the black skin patients (36.8%) prevailed. Smoking stood out as a risk factor (71.3%) and headache was the most frequent symptom at the time of diagnosis (43.3%). Patients with a family history of first-degree arterial hypertension represented 35.2% of the cases. Of the total number of patients, 69 received treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.

Conclusions: the most affected patients are female with a family history of high blood pressure. Smoking was the predominant risk factor in the population and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors were the most used drugs.