Factors affecting health-related quality of life among hypertensive patients using the EQ-5D tool

Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it is an epidemic health problem with 1 billion people affected worldwide. Limited studies have examined the impact of HTN on physical, psychological and social functioning of HTN patients. Furthermore, little is known about factors that impair these domains among these patients. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to explore predictors of poor HRQoL in patients with HTN in Jordan.

Hypertensive patients visiting cardiology and internal medicine departments were recruited from three major hospitals in Jordan. Patients' Socio-demographics and medical data were collected via direct patient encounters and medical records. The validated Arabic version of EQ-5D tool was used to assess HRQoL. Simple linear regression was performed to explore the factors associated with poor HRQoL.

The mean score of the EQ-5D index of the 300 participants was 0.732 (SD = 0.29, range from -0.594 to 1.0). While extreme problems were only reported by 10% of the participants, most of them reported "some problems" through the five dimensions with the highest percentage (43.3%) for mobility dimension. Gender, monthly income, number of medical conditions, number of medications, number of HTN medications, duration of HTN and the presence of any atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases were significantly associated with the EQ-5D index value (P-value <.05).

The current study highlights factors that negatively impact HRQoL in patients with HTN. Such findings should provide useful information for future pharmaceutical care intervention programmes aimed at improving HRQoL and other health outcomes in patients with HTN.