Relationship between orthostatic hypotension and antihypertensive therapy in the elderly hypertensive population / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the relationship between orthostatic hypotension (OH) and antihypertensive therapy in the elderly hypertensive population.Methods A total of 1174 elderly retired people (849 cases with hypertension and 325 cases without hypertension) in Guangzhou Military Region underwent health physical examination.All people were surveyed by questionnaires.The orthostatic blood pressure and heart rate were measured in supine position after resting for more than 5 minutes and then at 0 and 2 minutes after standing.Comparative analysis was made on the prevalence of OH and the relationship between OH and antihypertensive therapy.Results A significant difference in the prevalence of OH was observed between hypertensive patients and nonhypertensive patients [29.4％ (250/849) vs.15.7％ (51/325),x2 =23.32,P＜0.01].There was no significant difference in the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension in patients with versus without antihypertensive therapy [30.5％ (220/721) vs.23.4％ (30/128),x2 =2.62,P＞0.05].Conclusions Orthostatic hypotension is common observed in elderly hypertensive patients.Antihypertensive therapy may not increase the prevalence of OH.