Retrospective look at the development of the Arterial Hypertension Program. Influence of Psychosocial Factors

Abstract

The clinical picture of primary arterial hypertension (HTN) has been widely studied in the scientific world, achieving consensus about the need to address it in a multidimensional manner. Its usual clinical management encounters various problems that hinder the expected result. There are different types of factors that influence both its evolution and prognosis, such as characteristics of the patient, their family, the community environment, and the comprehensive medical management carried out in the Health Services that care for them. Following such recommendations, at the multiprofessional Arterial Hypertension Center of the San Borja-Arriarán Hospital in Santiago, we have studied the clinical characteristics, risk factors and drug therapies of a series of patients, following their evolution for 30 years, between 1975-2010. Within this analysis we have analyzed some psychosocial factors associated with the comprehensive management of the condition, considering aspects of the individual, their family, community and dependent on the health system, for more than thirty years.