Abstract
Objective: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many obstacles in the effective management of hypertension (hypertension). Despite concerns about the severity of the pandemic, there are still people with hypertension who need to be hospitalized. We conducted research to understand the clinical characteristics of a group of hypertensive patients hospitalized during the COVID-19 period.
Subjects and methods: Cross-sectional study conducted at Vietnam National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital. Data were collected from medical records of hypertensive patients hospitalized at Vietnam National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital during the period from May 2021 to December 2021.
Results: We collected data from 200 patients (average age 63.5 years; 50.5% men), average blood pressure at the time of admission was 156.2/89.4 mmHg, the average length of stay was 5.0 days. Reasons for admission include newly diagnosed hypertension (21.5%), which was accidentally diagnosed, and the group of hypertensive patients under management (78.5%) who have symptoms of hypertension (66.2%) and cardiovascular events (30.5%). Common symptoms of hypertension include dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, and chest pain. The rate of target organ damage is mainly in the heart (31.0%) and kidneys (26.5%). Hypertensive patients who do not clearly remember the medication they are taking account for 22.3% and the treatment compliance rate is 31.8%.
Conclusion: During the COVID-19 period, we found that the majority of hypertensive patients admitted to the hospital were the group of hypertensive patients being managed for symptoms of hypertension and cardiovascular events. The rate of hypertensive patients complying with treatment is 31.8%. More research is needed to understand more clearly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hypertension management and hospitalization rate due to hypertension after the pandemic.