Hypertension control and related factors at primary care located in the west side of the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The objective of this study was to characterize blood pressure control of 440 hypertensive patients. The subjects were interviewed and had their blood pressure measurement by means of an automatic device. The results showed that 45.5% had an adequate blood pressure control. People under control were different (p<0.05) from those without control: the ones under blood pressure control were mainly women, younger, with a shorter time of disease, with previous treatment for hypertension, less interruptions in treatment and more conscious about the importance of physical activities. They also rarely forgot to take the medicines in the right time, generally using less than, 3 or more antihypertensive drugs, with family history of cardiovascular diseases, reporting physical activity more frequently and less sadness. The multivariate analysis revealed a statistically significant association of uncontrolled hypertension with previous treatment (OR = 2.26; IC 95%, 1.4 - 3.6), no family history of cardiovascular diseases (OR = 2.2; IC 95%, 1.3 - 3.5) and unaware of the importance of physical activities for blood pressure control (OR = 3.5; IC 95%, 1.1 - 10.8). Blood pressure control was associated with biological variables, behavior and information about hypertension as a risk factor and its treatment.