Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Open Access

Blood pressure control among hypertension patients on lifestyle management in an urban informal settlement in Kenya

CO-ORGANIZED EVENT:International Conference on Chronic Diseases & 6^th International Conference on Microbial Physiology and Genomics
August 31-September 01, 2017 Brussels, Belgium

Namusonge Tecla, Onditi Joram, Ng�¢����endo Kuria, Murunga Victor, Obongo Mercy, Omondi Gregory and Mbau Lilian

Amref Health Africa, Kenya

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis

DOI: 10.21767/2572-5548-C1-003

Abstract

Background & Aim: Non-pharmacologic therapy in hypertension serves as an initial treatment before the start of a drug therapy and as an appendage to medication in persons already on drug therapy. These therapies can facilitate drug step-down and drug withdrawal in highly motivated individuals who achieve and sustain lifestyle changes. Specific objective for this study was to determine whether non-pharmacologic therapy reduced the levels of blood pressure among hypertensive clients in urban informal settlement of Kibera. Methodology: This was a retrospective study of hypertension patients managed through lifestyle advice alone between periods May 2015 and April 2017. All clients who made at least three clinic visits during this period were included in the study. Patient visit details were recorded in routine registers. Analysis was done for patients using SPSS statistics version 7.0. Results: A total of 528 participants were analysed and to that an average blood pressure of 151/91 at enrolment which was the same across both males and females. Only 34.4% (n=182) of patients had normalized their blood pressure with an average reduction of 24 mmg (148�¢���� 124) in the systolic and 11 mg (90-79) in diastolic measurement. The drop in blood pressure for men and women was 7 mmg (146) and 13 mmg (140) in systolic; and 10 mmg (83) and 9 mmg (84) reduction in diastolic respectively. The difference in the drop of systolic reduction blood pressure was not statistically significant.. Discussions: This study found out that lifestyle management alone was not effective for majority of participants in controlling blood pressure to recommended levels of below 140/90. This study recommends a review of hypertension guidelines of hypertension lifestyle management. It also recommends a structural follow-up system with strategies for improving lifestyle interventions.