Control de pacientes hipertensos en el sistema nacional de servicios de salud

Abstract

The aim of the study was to audit the hypertension (HTA) programes used in the Chilean National Health Service (SNSS). The normalization of the diastolic blood pressure (PAD) was used as the indicator of efficacy. A random sample was taken from the card-index of the chronic patients in each center and the following variables were noted for each subject: age, sex, level of PAD at inscription, duration of control and the level of PAD in their last control. A total of 538 centres, mostly primary care centres, took part in the study. 62.4% of the population were between 55 and 75 years old and there was a ratio of 3 women to 1 man. At the time of study 42.5% were normotensive and 24.1% had a PAD equal or greater than 95 mmhg. This study gave information that could be use to reorientate the medical care of hypertensive patients.