title: Prevalence of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) in Slovene hypertensive patients: insights from the "Quality of Healthcare in Slovenia" project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was mainly to evaluate age- and gender-dependent isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) prevalence before and during antihypertensive treatment, and to evaluate pulse pressure (PP) distributions during antihypertensive treatment in almost 20,000 Slovene hypertensive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted as part of the "Quality of Healthcare in Slovenia" project, in agreement with the National Medical Ethics Committee of the Republic of Slovenia. Appropriate statistical analyses and evaluations were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of ISH before the treatment was 19.6 % (17.0 % for men and 21.4 % for women) and it was significantly (p < 0.001) higher during the treatment (29.6 %; 26.4 % for men and 31.9 % for women). The mean PP before the treatment for the whole study patient sample was (71.2 ± 16.9) mmHg and was significantly (p < 0.001) reduced during the treatment to (57.4 ± 12.5) mmHg.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With regard to high ISH in treated Slovene hypertensive patients, quality of ISH control may not be optimal and should be improved. On the other hand, the adequate arterial hypertension (AH) control (systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 90 mmHg) was achieved in 55.6 % of patients. Our observations may have useful therapeutic implications in the management of AH, particularly ISH in the elderly.
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg 15, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors: Marjetka
authors: M
authors: Pal
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Toxicology, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg 15, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia. polonca.ferk@uni-mb.si.
authors: Polonca
authors: P
authors: Ferk
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Brane
authors: B
authors: Leskošek
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Maribor, Slomškov trg 15, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors: Ivan
authors: I
authors: Krajnc
authors: Medical Chamber of Slovenia, Dunajska 162, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors: Marjan
authors: M
authors: Pajntar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: Arterial hypertension; Epidemiology; Isolated systolic hypertension; Pulse pressure; Quality of arterial hypertension treatment