Citations
Hypertension is highly prevalent among patients who visit primary care clinics. Various factors and lifestyle behaviors are associated with effective blood pressure control. We aimed to identify factors and lifestyle modifications associated with blood pressure control among patients prescribed antihypertensive agents.
This survey was conducted at 15 hospital-based family practices in Korea from July 2008 to June 2010. We prospectively recruited and retrospectively assessed 1,453 patients prescribed candesartan. An initial evaluation of patients' lifestyles was performed using individual questions. Follow-up questionnaires were administered at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. We defined successful blood pressure control as blood pressure <140 mm Hg systolic and <90 mm Hg diastolic.
Of the 1,453 patients, 1,139 patients with available data for initial and final blood pressures were included. In the univariate analysis of the change in performance index, weight gain (odds ratio [OR], 2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52 to 3.11; P<0.001), physical inactivity (OR, 1.195; 95% CI, 1.175 to 3.387; P=0.011), and increased salt intake (OR, 1.461; 95% CI, 1.029 to 2.075; P=0.034) were related to inadequate blood pressure control. Salt intake also showed a significant association. Multivariate ORs were calculated for age, sex, body mass index, education, income, alcohol consumption, smoking status, salt intake, comorbidity, and family history of hypertension. In the multivariate analysis, sex (OR, 3.55; 95% CI, 2.02 to 6.26; P<0.001), salt intake (OR, 0.64; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.97; P=0.034), and comorbidity (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.23 to 2.69; P=0.003) were associated with successful blood pressure control.
Weight gain, physical inactivity, and high salt intake were associated with inadequate blood pressure control.
Citations
Depressive symptoms accompanied by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be influenced by socioeconomic status, associated chronic diseases and the current smoking status. This study was conducted to assess factors that are associated with depressive symptoms accompanied by COPD, using the data obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Survey (KNHANES) conducted in 2005 and 2008.
From the third (2005) and the fourth (2008) KNHANES, 407 (0.9%) with physician-diagnosed COPD were selected. Of the 407 subjects, only 180 (0.4%) who reported having depressive symptoms were included in this study. The associations of depressive symptoms with socioeconomic status, associated chronic diseases and smoking status were investigated.
Of the total 180 subjects, 45 (25%) had depressive symptoms. There were 102 males (55%) and 78 females (45%) with a slight predilection for males. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of depressive symptoms were dependent activities of daily living (odds ratio [OR], 2.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.06 to 2.84) and association with number of chronic diseases (OR of one, two, and three, 1.40, 1.72, 2.60; 95% CI of one, two, and three, 1.20 to 1.63,1.41 to 2.10,1.99 to 3.39).
This study provides the basis for managing COPD patients in a clinical setting by understanding the number and characteristics of COPD patients with depressive symptoms. The results of this study suggest that primary physicians should manage COPD patients with consideration of risk factors for depressive symptom.
Citations