Hypertension in the Lebanese adults: impact on health related quality of life

Reference data among general population and known-groups validity among hypertensive population of the EQ-5D-5L in Vietnam

Purpose

This study aims to provide EQ-5D-5L population norms among the general population in Vietnam and to test EQ-5D-5L’ construction validity among people living with hypertension there.

Methods

Descriptive statistics of the five dimensions and five levels, EQ-VAS and EQ-5D-5L indexes were categorised into gender and age groups for the EQ-5D-5L population norms. Known-groups testing was set for lower EQ-5D-5L outcomes among people who were aware of their hypertensive status, females, people with more comorbidities, less education, older ages, and higher body mass indexes. Level of confident interval was 95%.

Results

The mean EQ-VAS and EQ-5D-5L indexes were 81.10 (SD: 13.35) and 0.94 (SD: 0.09) among the general population. The EQ-5D-5L outcomes were better among younger people, males, people with more education, employees, and single people. Respondents reported fewer problems with self-care and usual activities and tend to have problems at higher levels across older ages. The known-group testing showed statistically significant results. The mean EQ-VAS and EQ-5D-5L indexes of people in the diagnosed hypertensive group (71.48 and 0.94, respectively) were statistically significantly smaller than they were in the non-hypertensive and undiagnosed hypertensive group (76.65 and 0.97; 76.95 and 0.96 accordingly). Statistically significant associations of lower EQ-5D-5L indexes and EQ-VAS were found among people diagnosed for hypertension, people suffering from an incremental comorbidity, and obese people.

Conclusion

This study has provided EQ-5D-5L population norms for the general population and evidence for known-groups validity of the EQ-5D-5L instrument among hypertensive people in Vietnam.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-021-02959-2.

Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Lebanese Adults: Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disabling disease with significant impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of patients. Information on the effects of RA on Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is lacking in the Lebanese population. The objective of this study was to evaluate QOL of RA patients compared with non-RA subjects and to suggest possible predictors of their QOL in Lebanon. We conducted a case–control observational study among individuals visiting the external clinics at three hospitals and different private clinics; the QOL was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire administered face to face to the study population, applied to RA (N = 90) and non-RA (N = 180) groups. RA presented lower Physical Component Scores (PCS) and Mental Component Scores (MCS) as well as overall QOL scores. Among RA patients, MCS and QOL were significantly decreased with morning stiffness duration (β = −9.211, p = 0.013 and β = −9.190, p = 0.009, respectively). The frequency of practicing sport per week increases PCS and QOL (β = 6.692, p = 0.002 and β = 6.148, p = 0.003, respectively). Workability has a positive effect on PCS (β = 5.546, p = 0.022) and time between blood transfusion and the onset of the disease has a positive impact on MCS (β = 8.415, p = 0.007). To improve QOL of patients with RA, health professionals have to take these results into consideration while treating their patients.

Health-related quality of life of hypertension in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

AIMS

Many observational studies have shown a lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of hypertension patients. This study aimed to summarize the association between hypertension and HRQOL in the Chinese population.

METHODS

We systematically searched the observational studies in the following databases: Medline, PubMed, Embase, Science Citation Index, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and WanFang Data from 1 January 1990 to 1 October 2017.

RESULTS

A total of 33 studies were included in this systematic review. Twenty-one of them presented worse quality of life in hypertensive individuals. The meta-analysis showed lower scores in hypertensive individuals for the eight domains and physical components (-4.93; 95% confidence interval -8.40 to -1.47), and no statistical difference in mental components (-1.62; 95% confidence interval -4.26 to 1.02).

CONCLUSION

Among Chinese patients, HRQOL of hypertensive patients is worse than that of normotensive individuals. These data suggest that maintenance of normotension offers benefits on patient-centered outcomes, in addition to other well established cardiovascular benefits.