1.Determination of the prevalence of hypertension and factors associated with blood pressure among hospitalised elderly in Hospital Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Siti Nurhaliza Hashidi ; Noraida Omar ; Siti Nur &rsquo ; Asyura Adznam
Malaysian Journal of Nutrition 2021;27(No.1):93-105
Introduction: Increasing trends of hypertension has been recognised as a common
disease among the elderly. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of
hypertension and factors associated with blood pressure among hospitalised elderly.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 124 patients in Hospital
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Data on socio-demography, medical background,
anthropometry, blood biochemistry and lifestyle were collected through face-to-face
interviews and medical records. Dietary intake was obtained through two days of
food history. Malnutrition risks and stress level were determined using the Mini
Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) and the Geriatric Depression Scale
(GDS). Results: There were 59.7% males and 40.3% females with mean age of
66.81±5.35 years. Majority were found to have hypertension (72.6%). Approximately
38.7% had normal body mass index (BMI). Most of them reported insufficient dietary
intakes except for trans fats, sodium, and caffeine. Nearly 62.1% were engaged with
physical activity, 23.4% were smoking, and 4.8% were taking alcohol. Approximately
66.1% and 86.3% were classified as having normal nutritional status and normal
stress levels. In this study, the prevalence of hypertension among elderly patients
warded in Hospital Serdang, Selangor was 72.6% and factors such as length of
stay, number of co-morbidities, number of medications, having co-morbidities of
hypertension, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus, polypharmacy, height, BMI,
fibre, polyunsaturated fat, dietary cholesterol, caffeine, and duration of physical
activity were found to be associated with blood pressure. Conclusion: The present
study found that majority of patients (72.6%) had hypertension. Future studies
regarding factors associated with blood pressure are recommended.