TREATMENT RESPONSE IN ADULT PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION ATTENDING A SECONDARY HEALTH CARE CENTER IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in prevalence of hypertension worldwide and a trend towards poor control of hypertension. Despite the development of new guidelines on management of hypertension, it remains a difficult disease to control. METHODS: The study was a prospective cohort study of 386 patients aged 18 to 70 years with uncontrolled hypertension. A simple random sampling technique with computer generated random numbers was used for selection. RESULTS: Majority (58.3%) of the respondents who were overweight had diastolic blood pressure of less than 100 mmHg while 55 (41.7%) respondents who were overweight had diastolic blood pressure of 100mmHg to 110mmHg. Forty (42.1%) of the respondents who were obese had diastolic blood pressure of less than 100mmHg while 55 (57.9%) respondents who were obese had diastolic blood pressure of 100mmHg to 110mmHg. The association was statistically significant (χ(2) = 9.845, p-value = 0.02). There was a significant difference between the mean first Systolic Blood pressure and the mean third systolic blood pressure. (< 0.001, 95% CI 19.01- 23.04). Also there was a significant difference between the mean first Diastolic Blood pressure and the mean third Diastolic Blood pressure. (p < 0.001, 95% CI 11.13-11.56). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that increasing body weight was associated with high blood pressures and health education on management of hypertension had significant effect in reducing blood pressures and subsequently leading to better control of hypertension.