How May Coexisting Frailty Influence Adherence to Treatment in Elderly Hypertensive Patients?

Table 1

Characteristics of the study group (sociodemographic and clinical variables).

Characteristics		Mean (SD)	Median (Q1 – Q3)
Age [years]		72.09 (7.98)	69 (65 – 78)
Systolic blood pressure [mmHg]		141.57 (16.95)	140 (130 – 150)
Diastolic blood pressure [mmHg]		84.89 (12.86)	90 (80 – 90)
Duration of disease [years]		14.31 (9.19)	14 (7 – 17.25)
Characteristics		N
Sex	Women	91	56.88%
	Men	69	43.12%
Marital status	Married / Living together	84	52.50%
	Unmarried	7	4.38%
	Separated / Divorced	5	3.12%
	Widowed	64	40.00%
Education	None or basic	55	34.38%
	Secondary	60	37.50%
	Higher	45	28.12%
Occupational activity	Employed	37	23.12%
	Retired	106	66.25%
	Annuitant	17	10.62%
	Unemployed	0	0.00%
BMI	Underweight (17 – 18.5)	1	0.62%
	Normal weight (18.5 – 25)	42	26.25%
	Overweight (25 – 30)	71	44.38%
	Obese class I (30 – 35)	31	19.38%
	Obese class II (35 – 40)	10	6.25%
	Obese class III ( > 40)	5	3.12%
JNC-7 classification of HT	Prehypertension	39	24.38%
	Stage I HT	90	56.25%
	Stage II HT	31	19.38%
Co-morbidities	Diabetes	86	53.75%
	Hypercholesterolemia	49	30.63%
	Coronary disease	47	29.38%
	Renal failure	20	12.50%
	Rheumatic diseases	27	16.88%
Medications administration	Alpha-adrenolytic	6	3.75%
	Beta-adrenolytic	45	28.12%
	Calcium channel blocker (CCB)	46	28.75%
	Angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB)	14	8.75%
	Beta-blocker (BB)	4	2.50%
	Loop diuretic (LD)	3	1.88%
	Thiazide diuretic (TD)	62	38.75%
	Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEI)	105	65.62%
Therapy	Monotherapy	72	45.00%
	Polytherapy	88	55.00%

Multiple choice questions, percentages don’t add up to 100%.
ACEI: angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors; ARB: angiotensin receptor blocker; BB: beta-blocker; BMI: body mass index; CCB: calcium channel blocker; HT: hypertension; JNC: Joint National Committee; LD: loop diuretic; N: number of patients; Q1-Q3: quartile -; SD: standard deviation; TD: thiazide diuretic.