Clinical and epidemiological profile of elderly patients seen in a hypertensive emergency at a public hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro – Hypertensive emergency in the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertensive emergencies (HE) are clinicalentities characterized by an acute and significant increasein blood pressure (BP) associated with severe symptoms thatevidence target organ damage. Objective: To analyze the clinicaland epidemiological profile of elderly patients treated ina hypertensive emergency at a public hospital in the state ofRio de Janeiro. Method: This study is prospective and descriptive.Information was collected from August to October, 2020using medical records and processed using the Statistic Statsoftprogram. Pearson’s test was performed for univariate analysis.Results: The sample consisted of 109 patients. The averageage found was 73 years old, with a predominance of males(69.72%) and brown skin (36.69%). Approximately 72.48% ofthe patients had a history of Systemic Arterial Hypertension(SAH), however, (50.46%) reported that they did not regularlyuse antihypertensive medication. Target organ injuries wereischemic stroke (58.71%), followed by acute coronary syndrome(24.77%), hemorrhagic stroke (9.17%) and edema acutelung disease (7.33%). Regarding the BP values found at admission,the mean systolic pressure was 205.0 mmHg, while themean diastolic pressure was 127.0 mmHg. Conclusion: Ischemicstroke was the most frequent HE in the sample. It is necessaryto put in place measures to prevent risk factors associated withSAH, as well as to control blood pressure levels to reduce thenumber of consultations due to hypertensive emergencies andother complications of cardiovascular diseases.Keywords: Emergency; Hypertension; Prevalence.