Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the psychological and social well-being of hypertensive patients before and after treatment.
Methods: Subjects studied comprised three groups including 1500 with well controlled hypertension according to the definition of the World Health Organisation (systolic < 140 and diastolic < 90 mmHg), 1500 subjects with treated but uncontrolled hypertension and 500 subjects with hypertension who had not yet received any treatment. Well-being was assessed using a previously validated self-administered scale.
Results: Before treatment, "asymptomatic" hypertensive patients were psychosocially ill at ease; this situation was well correlated with arterial blood pressure and varied with sex, living alone or not, and working or not. After three months of treatment, the blood pressure of treated subjects was significantly lower and their well-being score approached that of a control group of healthy adults. It was noted that the scores of female subjects were higher than those of the male subjects both before and after the treatment period. This indicated greater psychosocial sensitivity. While all the different types of anti-hypertensive drugs were prescribed, none were found to be more effective in reducing blood pressure nor in improving the quality of life than the combination of diuretics and conversion enzyme inhibitors.
Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with hypertension suffer from impaired psychological and social well-being which is related to their blood pressure. It appears important to consider this aspect when prescribing anti-hypertensive drugs.