24 An Observational Study on Orthostatic Hypotension in Geriatric Inpatients in Hospital Sungai Buloh: A Pilot Study

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is known to be prevalent in hospitalized elderly patients. This study aims to describe the prevalence of OH in our local setting and the associations with other risks. Methodology This is a pilot observational study recruiting all patients admitted to the geriatric ward between January to March 2019. Data including the postural blood pressure (BP), demographics, comprehensive geriatric assessment were collected into a case report form, and subsequently analysed via SPSS Ver. 23. Results 27/69 were included in this study. Malays predominated this cohort (40.7%) with a mean age of 75.04, comprising of 77.8% males. The prevalence of OH was 22.2%; with the Chinese topping the highest prevalence (44.4%). There is a 100% male predominance of OH; making 28.5% of the male population; seen equally amongst those <85. There was no correlations of OH with existing comorbids except atrial fibrillation (AF) (p<0.024) and syncope (p<0.007).There was no significant association of OH with symptoms, length of stay, Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), Lawton instrumental activities of daily Living (iADL) and MBI (Modified Barthels Index). However, its observed that 50% OH patients were asymptomatic although 83.3% did have prolong hospitalisation. 66% of them were functionally impaired. There is no significant association between presence of OH with existing medications. Conclusion OH is common and usually asymptomatic. This study describes a strong association between AF and syncope with OH. As this is a pilot study of a small cohort, a larger number of populations are needed in order to understand the prevalence in this setting. However, we recommend routine measurements of postural blood pressure in hospital settings to detect OH cases.