Objective

To determine the prevalence of hypotension and associated factors in hypertensive patients treated in the Primary Care setting.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional, descriptive, and multicentre study was conducted with a total of 2635 general practitioners consecutively including 12,961 hypertensive patients treated in a Primary Care setting in Spain. An analysis was performed on the variables of age, gender, weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes, dyslipidaemia, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle), fasting plasma glucose, complete lipid profile, as well as the presence of target organ damage (left ventricular hypertrophy, microalbuminuria, carotid atherosclerosis) and associated clinical conditions. Hypotension was defined as a systolic blood pressure less than 110mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure less than 70mmHg. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the variables associated with the presence of hypotension.

Results

The mean age was 66.2 years, and 51.7% of patients were women. The mean time of onset of hypertension was 9.1 years. A total of 13.1% of patients (95% confidence interval 12.4-13.6%) had hypotension, 95% of whom had low diastolic blood pressure. The prevalence of hypotension was higher in elderly patients (25.7%) and in those individuals with coronary heart disease (22.6%). The variables associated with the presence of hypotension included a history of cardiovascular disease, being treated with at least 3 antihypertensive drugs, diabetes, and age.

Conclusions

One out of 4-5 elderly patients, or those with cardiovascular disease, had hypotension. General practitioners should identify these patients in order to determine the causes and adjust treatment to avoid complications.