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Target organ damage and associated clinical conditions in newly diagnosed hypertensives attending a tertiary health facility.

BACKGROUND
Despite the ease of detecting and making a diagnosis of hypertension, various population surveys have shown low awareness and treatment rates of hypertension. Failure to detect and make a diagnosis of hypertension leads to late presentation and institution of treatment with consequent development of target organ damage (TOD) and associated clinical conditions (ACC) which in turn are associated with increased cost of treatment, morbidity and mortality.


OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at determining the presence and severity of TOD and ACC in newly diagnosed hypertensives with a view to ascertaining the magnitude of the problem.


METHOD
The study was carried out at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital Osogbo, Nigeria. Target organ damage (TOD) and associated clinical conditions (ACC) were determined in successive newly diagnosed hypertensives that presented at the centre during the study period.


RESULT
Of 147 newly diagnosed hypertensives seen at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital Osogbo, Nigeria, TOD and ACC were found in 98 (66.7%). The most prevalent TOD and ACC were LVH (42.2%), diabetes mellitus (14.3%), CVD (10.9%) and heart failure (8.8%). Patients with TOD andACC were significantly older (p = 0.028), had significantly higher SBP (p = 0.003), higher DBP (p = 0.022) and significantly lower BMI (p = 0.046) when compared with patients without TOD and ACC.


CONCLUSION
This study showed presence of TOD and ACC in two-thirds of newly diagnosed hypertensives. This underscores the need for improvement in the awareness, detection and treatment of hypertension in order to prevent TOD and ACC.