A study of the prevalence of Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) and risk of falls among older patients presenting to the Community Health and Psychiatry Health Center (CHPHC

Abstract

Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) is the reduction of systolic/diastolic blood pressure of at least 20/10mm/Hg respectively. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of OH and risk of falls among older patients on antihypertensive or antidepressant medication. A cross‐sectional study was conducted with patients ≥60 years. Patients were excluded if they were unable to stand or have Parkinson's disease. Sitting and standing blood pressure was measured at 3 minutes intervals. The Time Up & Go (TUG) test and the Tinetti Performance‐Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) Tool were used to assess the risk of falls. Seventy cases were identified with 8.6% being males and 91.4% being females. Twenty percent were OH positive, with these patients being significantly older (mean age ± sd: 80.14 ± 6.61 years versus 71.84 ± 8.65 years; p = 0.002). OH positive patients had a significantly higher TUG scores (± sd: 24.14 ± 11.46 seconds versus 16.70 ± 3.61 seconds; p = 0.006) and a significantly lower POMA scores (± sd: 19.50 ± 6.25 versus 24.20 ± 12.81; p = 0.004). POMA and TUG scores had a significant strong negative correlation (Pearson’ r = −0.709; p = 0.000). Age with TUG and POMA scores had a significantly low correlation (Pearson's r = 0.398; p = 0.001 and −0.401; p = 0.001 respectively).Findings suggest that 2 in every 10 elderly patients are likely to experience OH; they are older and are at a greater risk for falls. Funding: UWI Graduate Studies