ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of patients with hypertension. METHODS: Totally 319 patients with hypertension were investigated for their QOL in comparison with 319 healthy controls using the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-100). RESULTS: The scores of physical functions, psychological condition, independent ability, social relation, living environment, and personal faith and the total score of QOL-100 were significantly lower in the hypertensive patients than in the normal subjects (P<0.01). After adjusting the confounding factors of other diseases, the scores of all the items with the exception of personal faith and the total score of QOL-100 were all lower in the patients than in the controls (P<0.01). Hostelling T2 test and multivariate analysis of variance showed significant differences in the QOL between the hypertensive patients and the controls in the 6 domains synthesized (P<0.01), further demonstrating lowered QOL of hypertensive patients in comparison with the healthy population. CONCLUSION: Improvement of the hypertensive patients' QOL in addition to effective blood pressure control is a basic target in clinical therapy of hypertension.
