Does hypertension deteriorate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL)? A matched cross-sectional analytical study in an urban area of Puducherry, South India

Introduction: Hypertension is a chronic disease which necessitates daily medication intake and changes in the lifestyles. This may influence the quality of life. Aims and Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the health-related quality life of hypertensive individuals and age- and gender-matched nonhypertensive individuals in an urban area of Puducherry. Setting and Design: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted as facility as well as community-based study. Methodology: The study involved 101 hypertensive patients attending the outpatient department of an Urban Health Training Center and 101 age- and gender-matched nonhypertensive individuals recruited from the community. The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using Short Form-12 (SF-12) questionnaire. The HRQoL was expressed in eight domains: physical functioning, physical role play, bodily pain, general health, vitality, emotional role play, social functioning, and mental health. The data were entered in Epidata software, and analysis with unpaired t -test was done using SPSS software for comparison of scores between the two groups. Results: The hypertensive individuals were found to have lower quality of life in both physical and mental domains compared to nonhypertensive individuals. The physical functioning, bodily pain, and general health domains of physical component recorded statistically significant difference. Conclusion: Hypertensive individuals have poor quality of life, especially in physical component domain in our study population. Hypertensive individuals merit a vulnerable population and need special focus by health-care providers in the context of achieving universal health coverage and sustainable goals.