Impact of Anti-hypertensive Medication on Physical and Psychological Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in Hypertensive Patients

Background: As a public health concern, hypertension is becoming higher prevalent among the elderly, making it a major problem in across India. Since physicians, scientists, and policymakers have realized the importance of the patient's self-rated experience, beyond or in addition to objective and clinical measures of health, HRQOL improvement has risen to prominence in health research. Aim: To study the effect of physical and psychological factors on HRQOL in patients suffering from hypertension using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based observational study was conducted among hypertensive patients (aged 30 and older) in a teaching hospital enrolling IPD and OPD patients. Patients were interviewed for Quality of life (QOL) using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires. Data were analyzed using graph Microsoft Office. The statistical analysis (mean and standard deviation) involved a descriptive analysis, and the results were shown as absolute numbers and percentages. Results: It was observed that the physical domain's mean score was higher than the psychological domain's [56.623 ± (SD 0.2274) and 54.875 ± (SD 0.5413), respectively] indicating an inverse relationship between low quality of life and low mood, anxiety, and depression. In response to individual questions, the majority of participants reported experiencing moderate pain, being content with their daily activities, feeling full and able to concentrate, and having negative thoughts. Conclusion: A higher quality of life was found to be positively connected with male gender, older age (60-69 years), negative emotions, and lack of education, but not with female gender, older age (60-69 years), primary education, or negative emotions. Thus, in hypertension patients, each of these characteristics is a significant predictor of the quality of life associated to their health.