[Treatment of Hypertension in elderly patients and quality of life].
Recent epidemiological intervention studies demonstrated the effectiveness of antihypertensive treatment in the elderly and the indications of antihypertensive treatment have been extended to include a higher age group. However, because elderly hypertensive patients have different background characteristics from younger cases, thus there is considerable difficulty in evaluating the quality of life. The elderly have a lowered level of quality of life prior to the treatment due not only to the age-related physiological reduction in capacity and various chronic medical complications but also to a depressive tendency owing to inevitable financial and social losses. Therefore, extreme attention should be directed to avoid further worsening of the quality of their life by antihypertensive treatment which is one kind of intervention for patients in this particular age group. It is true that the side effect of antihypertensive drugs is one of the most potent worsening factors of the quality of life, but each drug has effects of its own other than side effects on the quality of life. In this article, we reviewed our own experience and reports from overseas in the evaluation of quality of life in the hypertensive elderly.
Mikami
H
H
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Osaka University Medical School.
D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life