Effects of health management on cardiovascular events in elderly patients with hypertension

Abstract

Objective To study the effects of health management on cardiovascular events in the elderly patients with hypertension. Methods A total of 182 elderly patients with hypertension were randomly assigned to the control group (n=61), pharmacologic therapy group (n=61) or health management group (n=60). Serum biomarkers, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), and blood pressure were tested at baseline and after intervention. Results There were no differences between the 2 groups in clinical characteristics at baseline.The average following-up period was (21±7) months.The improvement of systolic blood pressure (t=3.915, P=0.000), pulse pressure (t=3.966, P=0.000), and baPWV (t=3.093, P=0.002) in the health management group was more significant than the control group; the systolic blood pressure (t=2.008, P=0.046) was bitterly improved than the pharmacologic therapy group.The accumulative survival rate of the health management group (96.7%) was higher than the control group (83.6%; χ2=5.921, P=0.015), similar to the pharmacologic therapy group (93.3%; χ2=2.821, P=0.091). Decreased systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and baPWV were protective factors.After adjusted by age and gender, the improvement of systolic blood pressure was found to be an independent protective factors (RR=0.75, P<0.05). Conclusion Health management in elderly patients with hypertension could more significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Key words: Hypertension; Cardiovascular diseases; Health management