Authors (including presenting author) :
Tin YY, Chan LP, Leung SY, Hui MTE
Affiliation :
Department of Family Medicine, New Territories East Cluster
Introduction :
Hypertension is strongly associated with cardiovascular events, especially ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Studies have shown that major and minor abnormalities on electrocardiogram (ECG) were consistently associated with increased risks for cardiovascular events. It was recommended by the 2018 ESH/ESC Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension that a 12-lead ECG should be performed on all hypertensive patients as part of routine assessment. However local data on prevalence of ECG abnormalities in primary care in Hong Kong was limited.
Objectives :
(1) To determine the prevalence of major electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with hypertension in primary care in Hong Kong
(2) To determine the association of major electrocardiographic abnormalities with patients’ socio-economical background, underlying cardiovascular disease and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Methodology :
This was a cross-sectional study. Subjects were hypertensive patients aged between 18 to 80 who were enrolled in the Risk Assessment and Management Programme (RAMP) in a general outpatient clinic. Outcome measures were prevalence of probable ischaemic heart disease (IHD), complete left bundle branch block (LBBB), left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with hypertension.
Result & Outcome :
504 patients were recruited for analysis. 3.2% had probable IHD, 0.4% had complete LBBB, 2.0% had LVH and 1.0% had AF. Probable IHD was associated with history of smoking (P = 0.032), hypercholesterolaemia (P = 0.037) and higher 10-year CV risk (P = 0.04). Complete LBBB was associated with history of smoking (P = 0.021) and hypercholesterolaemia (P = 0.022). LVH was associated with male gender (P = 0.001) and longer duration of hypertension (P = 0.035). AF was not associated with any of the clinical or sociodemographic parameters.
