Causes of failure to control hypertension in people over 65 years old

Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases whose prevalence increases by 10% for every 10 years after 50 years of age. This study aimed to investigate the causes of failure to control blood pressure in people aged over 65 years old. This descriptive case-control study was conducted on 200 participants aged over 65 years old who were diagnosed with hypertension through a routine travel check-up for pilgrimage to Mecca in Amin Hospital, Isfahan, Iran during 2003. Following the medical examinations and blood pressure measurements according to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards, the participants were divided into two groups of controlled blood pressure (case) and uncontrolled blood pressure (control). A questionnaire was filled in for each participant and the data was analyzed using chi-square and student-t tests. The mean age was 70.7 ± 5.2 and 69 ± 4.9 in case and control groups, respectively. Less than half of the participants in the case group took anti-hypertensive medicine, out of which 87.5% were treated by a physician and 12.5% practiced self-therapy. In addition, 25% took their medicine regularly and 55% expressed a lack of motivation as the cause of discontinuing their medication. Furthermore, patients with controlled blood pressure had significantly better knowledge and performance than the case group (P < 0.05). The most common causes of failure to control blood pressure were poor knowledge, inappropriate practice in diet, stress, smoking, and irregular intake of medication.