In‐hospital outcomes of patients with a hypertensive emergency at a medical center, Ethiopia: A prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Hypertensive emergency is associated with substantial complications and loss of life across the world. Early identification and treatment of hypertensive emergency complications are critical to prevent or avoid any consequences. Despite this, in Ethiopia, studies addressing mortality rate and its predictors as well as complications of hypertensive emergency are limited. AIMS: This study aim to evaluate in‐hospital mortality of patients admitted with a hypertensive emergency at the emergency ward of Jimma Medical Center. METHODS: A consecutive sample of 140 adult (≥18 years of age) patients with a hypertensive emergency were recruited from September 1, 2020 to February 25, 2021 at Jimma Medical Center, Ethiopia and were followed up from admission to discharge/death. Patients who declined to participate and readmitted during the study period were excluded. To assess factors associated with in‐hospital mortality, bivariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed. A p value of less than 0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance. RESULTS: Over three‐fourths of the study participants, that is, 108 (77.1%), were males with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 52.8 ± 13.6 years. Hemorrhagic stroke, 53 (38.0%), and acute kidney injury, 38 (27.1%), were the most common complications of hypertensive emergency. The average (±standard deviation) length of stay in the hospital was 8.53 ± 3.61 days. During in‐hospital follow‐up, 16 patients (11.4%, 95% confidence interval: 6.7–17.9) died. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between patients not doing regular physical exercise before the current admission (adjusted hazard ratio = 4.629, 95% confidence interval: 1.171–18.294, p = 0.015) and in‐hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: More than one‐tenth of patients with hypertensive emergency death was recorded at Jimma Medical Center. The frequent complications of hypertensive emergency were hemorrhagic stroke and acute renal injury. Not doing regular physical exercise before the current admission raises the likelihood of in‐hospital death. Therefore, strengthening and encouraging patients to perform regular physical exercise is imperative.