Abstract

Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of emergency hypertension in patients who had been diagnosed with hypertensive crisis.
Methods:
An analysis of adult patients with complete medical records who were hospitalized to King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between September 2022 and September 2023 and diagnosed with hypertensive crisis was carried out.
Results:
The study subsequently gathered 151 patient records. Patients were diagnosed with a hypertensive crisis when their systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) readings were more than 180 / 120 mmHg. The average age of the patients was 61.2 years, with females making up 54.3% patients. Around 66.6% had a history of using antihypertensive medications. History of hypertension was shown to be the most prevalent medical risk factor (72.8%). Stroke was the most common complication (n=32, 21.2%). Additionally, headache was the most common complaint at admission (41.1%). Further, 92.7% patients were discharged after showing improvement, and 6.6% patients reported deaths.
Conclusion:
Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the gender of the patient and the presence of a history of hypertension were independently associated factors with hypertensive emergency. Monitoring and counselling hypertensive persons is crucial, and screening for hypertension might help prevent or minimize damage to target organs.

Key words: Emergency hypertension, hypertensive crisis, prevalence, associated factors, Saudi Arabia