Control and management of hypertensive patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bahía Blanca, Argentina

Abstract

Objectives: Hypertension (HTN), defined as persistence of blood pressure higher than 140/90mmHg, is considered an important cause of mortality, disability and high sanitary costs. In this paper we propose to evaluate the impact of Social Preventive and Mandatory Isolation (ASPO by its acronym in Spanish) in the control of HTN patients according to socioeconomic level. Materials and methods: a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, based on data from a self-generated survey by Google forms with 25 questions; the inclusion criteria were diagnosed HTN, being older than 18 years, living in Bahía Blanca and agreeing to answer the survey. Results: 143 answers were evaluated, the average age was 58 years, 50.3 % of those surveyed were women. Seventy percent follows a treatment for HTN indicated by a health professional; 33.6% should have had controls studies done during the ASPO; 11.2% had to assist to cardiologic control and couldn’t do it; 10.48% of the sample couldn’t undergo all control tests during the quarantine. Conclusions: According to socioeconomic level, we could see that all the people with high income obtained access to all the tests; while none of the people with low income could do it, this could be telling us about the differences in opportunities to achieve a maximum health status due to inequities in access.