Profile of patients seen at an outpatient hypertension facility: are there gender differences?

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find out whether there are gender differences regarding socio-demographic characteristics and associated risk factors in adults monitored in an outpatient hypertension facility. Retrospective analysis of records of patients seen at the outpatient hypertension clinic in 2009-2010, in a hospital specialized in cardiology, in southern Brazil. All patients were beneficiaries from the Brazilian Unified Healthcare System (SUS). The variables considered were socio-demographic profile, anthropometric measurements and risk factors for hypertension. For statistical analysis, a significance level of 5% (p ≤ 0.05) was adopted. Of the 209 patient records assessed, most belonged to female patients (66%), 65.9% of them were married, 71.6% were white, with mean age 53.5 ± 13.8 years, and 70.1% had a sedentary behavior. Regarding risk factors, waist circumference and alcohol use were higher among men (p=0.04). It was concluded that there was no gender difference concerning the assessed variables, except for the use of alcohol.