Background: Blood pressure (BP) variations occurring after hospital discharge in a population of older hypertensives have not been previously investigated.
Design: elderly (≥65 years) hypertensives admitted to the geriatric acute ward of a university-teaching hospital were enrolled in this prospective observational study.
Methods: Exclusion criteria were terminal illness, discharge to institution, and changes in antihypertensive regimen. BP was recorded in the emergency room, at ward admission, daily during hospital stay, and at discharge. Home self blood pressure measurement was performed after discharge.
Results: The study population included 106 patients. There was a significant decrease in systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) throughout the study time points. SBP and DBP decreased after discharge (from 135.1 ± 15.0 to 131.5 ± 16.1 mmHg and from 77.2 ± 8.4 to 71.6 ± 8.7 mmHg, respectively), the difference being significant only for DBP (p = 0.000). We further observed higher prevalence of critically low BP values (SBP <120 mmHg and DBP <70 mmHg) at home (23.6% and 48.1%, respectively) compared to discharge (8.5% and 9.4%, p = 0.006 and p = 0.000, respectively).
Conclusions: We observed a decrease in BP values, and particularly DBP values, after hospital discharge, in a sample of older hypertensives. Critically low BP values were observed at home in a high proportion of subjects, suggesting wise use of antihypertensive therapy at discharge and early monitoring of BP values at home.