Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Factors in Patients with Essential Hypertension
Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Factors in Patients with Essential Hypertension

Summary/Abstract: Systemic hypertension is a common disease in the population and is one of the most important risk factors whose prevalence reaches 28% in U.S.A, 44% in Europe, so that in 2025, it is estimated that hypertensive persons will reach 1.56 billion worldwide. In our country, the overall prevalence was 44.92%, mainly higher in males (50.17%) than females (41.11%). We conducted an assessment of social and psychological factors in association with medical and biological routine quantification in a group of 80 hypertensives newly diagnosed, compared with a control group. Questionnaires were for studying the marital status, education level, quantifying the number of working hours per day, the level of physical training and professional socio-familial stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, after which patients were tested to assess the psychometric anxiety and depression using the Hamilton Rating Scale for depression and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. The results may support an increased risk of hypertension in individuals who are undergoing to social and family stress, working over 10 hours/day and who record mild or moderate levels of anxiety and depression at evaluation tests. These data support the implementation of complex programs to decrease the risk of hypertension by working professionals in the medical, social and psychological fields of expertise.

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