The prevalence and associated cardiovascular risk factors in resistant hypertensive subjects in Eastern India

Background: To study the prevalence and associated cardiovascular risk factors of ‘Resistant’ hypertension (RHT) in hypertensive patients of India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was carried out among 300 hypertensive patients attending ‘Hypertension Clinic’ and providing informed written consent from October 2013 to December 2013 at Burdwan Medical College and hospital, Burdwan, West Bengal in India. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The prevalence of Resistant hypertension was 23.33% among all hypertensives. The patients with Resistant hypertension were significantly associated with older age groups (>55 years) (77.1% vs. 38.3%, p value <0.001, OR 5.446, 95% CI 2.935 and 10.104), Obesity (BMI > 27.5 kg/m 2 ) (67.1% vs. 45.7%, p value 0.002, OR 2.433, 95% CI 1.387 and 4.268), Diabetes mellitus (72.9% vs. 45.2%, p value <0.001, OR 3.252, 95% CI 1.808 and 5.851), Prolonged hypertension (>10 years; 74.3% vs. 43.9%, p value <0.001, OR 3.690, 95% CI 2.033 and 6.696) and co-morbidity like Ischemic Heart Disease (60% vs. 44.8%, p value 0.026, OR 1.850, 95% CI 1.073 and 3.187) as risk factors as compared to patients with non-resistant hypertension. Conclusions: Nearly one fourth of the hypertensive persons were suffering from Resistant hypertension, which was significantly associated with the presence of older age, obesity, diabetes mellitus, longer duration of hypertension and co-morbidity like Ischemic Heart Disease as risk factors. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v5i4.9737 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 2014 Vol.5(4); 1-5