Complications of Hypertension in Men and Women Seen in a Referral Outpatient Care Unit

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association between sex and left ventricular hypertrophy, stroke, and renal failure in hypertensive patients in a referral outpatient care unit. Methods: This study assessed 622 hypertensive patients diagnosed with left ventricular hypertrophy based on electrocardiography, renal failure based on serum creatinine level ≥1.4 mg/dL, and stroke based on a previous history and physical examination. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio of the association between sex and target-organ lesions in hypertension adjusted for race, age, and duration of the disease. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.4±13.8 years; 74.1% were women, and 84.9% were mulattos or blacks. Almost half of the men and more than 40% of the women had had at least 1 definite event involving a target-organ lesion. The incidence of renal failure was greater among men [adjusted OR (ORa) = 2.73, P= 0.002]. In white patients, the incidence of stroke was significantly (P= 0.017) greater among men (4/33) than among women (0/56), and, in the age group ≥49 years, the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy was significantly greater among men (ORa = 1.99, P= 0.024). Conclusion: The data obtained suggest a greater prevalence of renal failure in men than in women, of stroke in white men than in white women, and of left ventricular hypertrophy in men than in women aged 49 years and above.