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A study of the prevalence of Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) and risk of falls among older patients presenting to the Community Health and Psychiatry Health Center (CHPHC
Author(s) -
Smith Latoya Tameka,
Gossell-Williams Maxine
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.848.4
Subject(s) - medicine , tinetti test , orthostatic vital signs , blood pressure , sitting , physical therapy , balance (ability) , pathology
Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) is the reduction of systolic/diastolic blood pressure of at least 20/10mm/Hg respectively. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of OH and risk of falls among older patients on antihypertensive or antidepressant medication. A cross‐sectional study was conducted with patients ≥60 years. Patients were excluded if they were unable to stand or have Parkinson's disease. Sitting and standing blood pressure was measured at 3 minutes intervals. The Time Up & Go (TUG) test and the Tinetti Performance‐Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) Tool were used to assess the risk of falls. Seventy cases were identified with 8.6% being males and 91.4% being females. Twenty percent were OH positive, with these patients being significantly older (mean age ± sd: 80.14 ± 6.61 years versus 71.84 ± 8.65 years; p = 0.002). OH positive patients had a significantly higher TUG scores (± sd: 24.14 ± 11.46 seconds versus 16.70 ± 3.61 seconds; p = 0.006) and a significantly lower POMA scores (± sd: 19.50 ± 6.25 versus 24.20 ± 12.81; p = 0.004). POMA and TUG scores had a significant strong negative correlation (Pearson’ r = −0.709; p = 0.000). Age with TUG and POMA scores had a significantly low correlation (Pearson's r = 0.398; p = 0.001 and −0.401; p = 0.001 respectively).Findings suggest that 2 in every 10 elderly patients are likely to experience OH; they are older and are at a greater risk for falls. Funding: UWI Graduate Studies