Estimation of the arterial hypertension prevalence in 31 362 patients with coronary heart disease discharged from Polish internal medicine and cardiologic hospital wards in 2002 - the outcomes of the STOK questionnaire study

Abstract

Background Prevalence of the arterial hypertension in Polish patients (pts) with documented coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been evaluated in wider studies.
Material and methods Registry study undertaken in 242 cardiologic and internal medicine hospital wards in Poland in 2002. Questionnaires filled in by doctors concerned pts discharged from those hospital wards in 2002. The criteria for inclusion in the registry were the discharge diagnosis of: acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, percutaneous coronary or cardiosurgical revascularization performed or planned. The questionnaire registry was performed with logistic help of Merck, Sharp & Dohme, Polish Division.
Results 31 362 individual pts questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The group consisted of 19 570 women (62.4%) and 11 792 men (37.6%), average 62.8 years old. The most frequent concomitant co-morbidities were: arterial hypertension (65.73%), serum HDL cholesterol concentration < 45 mg/dl (47.24%), serum total cholesterol concentration > 200 mg/dl (33.99%), serum triglicerides > 180 mg/dl (25.24%) and diabetes (24.86%). When the subgroup of the CAD pts with concomitant diabetes was analyzed, the prevalence of those comorbidities was significantly higher: 73.99%, 50.99%, 37% and 32%, respectively.
Conclusions Two thirds (66%) of the pts with documented CAD among almost 31 500 discharged form Polish internal medicine and cardiologic hospital wards in 2002 year had concomitant arterial hypertension. If diabetes was present in the CAD pts, the prevalence of concomitant arterial hypertension was estimated at 74%.