Abstract

Background: Hypertension causes about 12.8% of all annual deaths. If uncontrolled, it can lead to stroke and cardiovascular complications. The quality of life (QOL) plays an important role in chronic diseases such as hypertension.

Objective: To assess the lifestyle-related risk factors of hypertension and the QOL of hypertensive patients in field practice areas of a tertiary-care hospital in coastal Karnataka.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2015 on 122 hypertensive individuals. A semi-structured questionnaire based on WHOQOL-BREF was used. Data were collected by interview technique and analyzed with SPSS, where frequencies and T test was done. QOL was assessed using Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test.

Result: Those who consumed alcohol (p = 0.39) and who did not perform any physical activity were found to have a higher systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001). There was also a significant association between age category and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (JNC 7 categories). No significant association was found with QOL with alcohol intake, smoking, lack of physical activity, age, and body mass index, which may be owing to a smaller sample size. The QOL did show a lower trend as the age increased.

Conclusion: Blood pressure is affected by many lifestyle factors such as alcohol intake and lack of physical activity. Health education is required to help control blood pressure and improve QOL.

Key words: Hypertension, lifestyle risk factors, quality of life, WHOQOL-BREF