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[Quality of the life in hypertensive outpatients]
Insights
Hypertension significantly impacts quality of life (QOL) in outpatients, with QOL scores worsening as disease severity increases. This study utilized the Quality of Life Inventory Questionnaire (QUIK) to assess these effects.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Medicine
- Health Psychology
- Quality of Life Research
Context:
- Hypertension is a prevalent global health issue affecting millions.
- Assessing the quality of life (QOL) in hypertensive patients is crucial for comprehensive patient care.
- Existing QOL assessment tools may not fully capture the nuances of QOL in hypertensive populations.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in hypertensive outpatients across different severity levels.
- To validate a newly developed self-completed questionnaire (QUIK) for QOL assessment in this population.
- To determine the correlation between hypertension severity and QOL domains.
Summary:
- A study involving 78 hypertensive outpatients (WHO Classification I-III), 59 healthy controls (N1), and 22 normotensive outpatients (N2) used the developed QUIK (50 questions across physical functioning, emotional adjustment, interpersonal relationships, and attitudes toward life).
- The QUIK demonstrated strong internal consistency (alpha=0.95) and repeatability (r=0.89).
- Hypertensive patients reported significantly worse QOL compared to healthy controls, with scores deteriorating progressively with increased hypertension severity (WHO I, II, III).
Impact:
- Findings highlight the significant negative impact of hypertension on multiple QOL domains.
- The developed QUIK is a reliable and valid tool for assessing QOL in hypertensive patients.
- Results underscore the need for integrated QOL assessments in hypertension management strategies.
Abstract:
In order to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in hypertensive outpatients, we selected 78 patients with hypertension of various degrees of severity (WHO Classification I: 29 cases, II: 15, III: 34), 59 not ill healthy persons (N1) and 22 normotensive outpatients (N2) aged at 50 years and over, using the self-completed questionnaire (QUIK) which we developed. QUIK covers four domains including physical functioning (20 questions), emotional adjustment (10), interpersonal relationships (10) and attitudes toward life (10) totaling 50 questions. In this study the internal consistency of QUIK was alpha = 0.95 by the Kuder-Richardson formula 20 and it's repeatability was r = 0.89 by the Spearman-Brown formula. The QOL in hypertensive outpatients was definitely worse in terms of total score (N1 5.1 +/- 4.4 vs WHO II 9.3 +/- 7.2 and III 12.1 +/- 5.6, p < 0.05), for physical functioning (N1 2.5 +/- 2.1 vs WHO I 3.7 +/- 2.8, II 4.7 +/- 3.8, III 5.4 +/- 2.8 p < 0.05), for emotional adjustment (N1 1.2 +/- 1.4 vs WHO III 2.3 +/- 1.7, p < 0.01), for interpersonal relationships (N1 0.8 +/- 1.3 vs WHO III 1.6 +/- 1.5, p < 0.01) and for attitudes toward life (N1 0.7 +/- 1.2 vs WHO III 2.7 +/- 2.0 p < 0.01). The total QUIK score increased according to the severity of symptoms (WHO I 5.8 +/- 4.4, WHO II 9.3 +/- 7.2 and WHO III 12.1 +/- 5.6), respectively. The total score of WHO I was significantly lower compared with that of WHO III (p < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)