SURVIVAL ANALYSIS OF TIME TO ACHIEVE NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURE IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Hypertension is one of the leading health problems in the world with serious and costly complications. Excess mortality attributable to hypertension has, in the past decade, caused more deaths than all wars combined. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. It is important that people are aware and informed about hypertension and other health related issues. Understanding the true state of the survivorship of hypertensive will be of great benefit to patients, physicians, government and other related agencies in checking the scourge of this disease. This study was designed to investigate the survivorship of hypertensive patients and factors affecting the survivorship of hypertensive patients. Data from the case notes of hypertensive patient receiving treatments in Ajeromi General Hospital, Ajegunle (AGHA), Lagos and Ringroad State Hospital, Adeoyo (RSHA), Ibadan from January, 2000 to December, 2012 were used. Survival analysis (SA) techniques were explored to determine the survivorship of hypertensive patients where the attainment of normal blood pressure is the event of interest. Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the factors affecting the survivorship of hypertensive patients. The composition of hypertension by Gender was 39.2% in Male patients and 60.8% in Female patients. The median survival of hypertensive patient receiving treatment in Ajeromi was 35 months (95% C I: 32-38 months), the 107 months (95% C I: 95-119 months) in Adeoyo. The median survival time of male respondent was 74 months (95% CI: 63-85 months) and in female respondent was found to be 99 months (95% CI: 84-114 months). However, we found that the overall median survival time was 87 months (95% C I: 78-100 months). The study concluded that Location, Occupation and Gender affected the survivorship of hypertensive patient using Cox Hazard Proportional Regression. The time to attainment of normal blood pressure shorter in hypertensive patients in Ajeromi General Hospital, Ajegunle compared patients in Ringroad State Hospital, Adeoyo