Abstract

Background: Hypertension causes about 12.8% of all annual deaths. If uncontrolled, it can lead to stroke and cardiovascular complications. The quality of life (QOL) plays an important role in chronic diseases such as hypertension.
Objective: To assess the lifestyle-related risk factors of hypertension and the QOL of hypertensive patients in field practice areas of a tertiary-care hospital in coastal Karnataka.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2015 on 122 hypertensive individuals. A semi-structured questionnaire based on WHOQOL-BREF was used. Data were collected by interview tech- nique and analyzed with SPSS, where frequencies and T test was done. QOL was assessed using Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test. Result: Those who consumed alcohol (p = 0.39) and who did not perform any physical activity were found to have a higher systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001). There was also a significant association between age category and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (JNC 7 categories). No significant association was found with QOL with alcohol intake, smoking, lack of physical activity, age, and body mass index, which may be owing to a smaller sample size. The QOL did show a lower trend as the age increased. Conclusion: Blood pressure is affected by many lifestyle factors such as alcohol intake and lack of physical activity. Health education is required to help control blood pressure and improve QOL.