Comparison of hypertension management between cancer survivors and the general public

Abstract

Proper management of hypertension is important for better survival and quality of life of cancer survivors who have hypertension. We aimed to compare hypertension management between cancer survivors and the general population. A nationwide, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was administered to adult cancer patients, currently receiving treatment or follow-up, who had been diagnosed with hypertension. Comparison group was selected from among participants in the health behavior survey of the third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Self-reported hypertension management was surveyed, including antihypertensive medication adherence, frequency of blood pressure (BP) monitoring and perceived BP control. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between cancer survivorship and each outcome measure. Compared with the general population, cancer survivors were more likely to report full adherence (92.7% vs. 73.0%; adjusted odds ratio (aOR)3.45; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.08-5.73), more frequent BP measurement (≥24 per year: 50.1% vs. 24.7%; aOR2.51; 95% CI, 1.83-3.46), and very good perceived BP control (60.8% vs. 26.2%; aOR4.34; 95% CI, 3.13-6.02). Cancer survivors appear to be better with antihypertensive medication adherence and BP monitoring than those without cancer, and as a result, they appear to be under better BP control. However, several methodological limitations of our study prompt further research on this issue. © 2012 The Japanese Society of Hypertension All rights reserved.