Correlation of the Antihypertensive Drugs with the Type of Stroke in Elderly Patients: A Cross Sectional Study of 151 Patients

Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a common condition among older individuals and is a major factor in developing cardiovascular diseases, including stroke. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is suddenly disrupted and is a leading cause of long-term disability and mortality worldwide. Antihypertensive medications are essential for managing hypertension by lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of complications. Scientific research has focused on understanding the relationship between antihypertensive drugs and stroke risk in elderly patients to determine if certain medications offer advantages or disadvantages in preventing stroke. Objective: The main objectives are to determine the ability of antihypertensive drugs to reduce the risk of stroke in hypertensive patients and to determine whether the type of stroke that occurred was affected by the use of specific antihypertensive drugs. Methods and Materials: It was an observational study in four tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar, KP. The sampling technique was randomized convenient sampling. A total of 151 patients participated in the study, 37 from each hospital. The data was collected from the database records of patients from the institutes with their permission and then analyzed in SPSS 22. Frequency and chi-square tables were made to signify our results. Results: A total of 151 patients contributed to the study, from which 53% were males and 47% were females. The association of age groups with the type of stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic) was significant (p-value =0.035). The association of antihypertensive drugs used with the type of stroke was also substantial (p-value = 0.000). Conclusion: The major risk factors are diabetes age, gender and hypertension. We found out that people under the age of 40 to 50 years and who used calcium channels blockers and beta blockers had more prevalence of ischemic stroke while those under age of 60 to 70 years who used ACE inhibitors had more prevalence of hemorrhagic stroke.