title: Burden of systemic hypertension in patients admitted to cardiology hospitalization units.
abstract: Hypertension is 1 of the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors; nevertheless, some studies have reported that the antecedent of hypertension does not impair prognosis in patients with established cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to describe the impact of hypertension on readmission and 1-year mortality in patients admitted to a single cardiology hospitalization unit. All consecutive hospitalizations in a single cardiology department through 10 months were included, and 1-year follow-up was performed. Clinical antecedents, risk factors, and main discharge diagnoses were collected. A total of 1,007 patients were included (mean age 71.1 ± 13.5 years). The antecedent of hypertension was present in 69.0%, and these patients had older mean age and higher prevalence of risk factors and previous cardiovascular disease. No differences in hospital discharge main diagnoses were observed according to the antecedent of hypertension. During a mean follow-up period of 404.82 ± 122.2 days, patients with hypertension had higher rates of rehospitalization for cardiac causes (31.1% vs 17.9%, p = 0.01) and of total (17.4% vs 9.3%, p <0.01) and cardiovascular (13.9% vs 5.9%, p <0.01) mortality. Multivariate analysis identified the antecedent of hypertension as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular readmission (hazard ratio 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.98) and the combined end point of readmission or mortality (hazard ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.12 to 1.88); no independent association was observed for total mortality. In conclusion, hypertension was present in most patients admitted to a cardiology unit, and they had higher rates of rehospitalization and mortality at 1-year follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitario de San Juan, Alicante, Spain. acorderofort@gmail.com
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cordero
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bertomeu-González
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno-Arribas
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agudo
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: López-Palop
authors.forename: M Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Masiá
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Miralles
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mateo
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quiles
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bertomeu-Martínez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000639:trends; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors