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Social network, presence of cardiovascular events and mortality in hypertensive patients

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 29, pages 417–423 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to ascertain the relationship between social network and the appearance of mortality (cardiovascular events (CVEs)) in patients with arterial hypertension (AHT). This is a cohort study of 236 patients with a 9-year follow-up. Measurements included age, sex, blood pressure (BP), diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, marital status, social network, social support, stage of family life cycle (FLC), mortality and CVEs. Patients with a low social network registered higher global mortality (hazards ratio (HR) 2.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3; 5.5)) as did the oldest patients (HR 5.6 (1.9; 16.8)), men (HR 3.5 (95% CI 1.3; 9.3)) and subjects in the last FLC stages (HR 4.3 (95% CI 1.3;14.1)). Patients with low social support registered higher cardiovascular mortality (HR 2.6 (95% CI 1.1; 6.1)) as did the oldest patients (HR 12.4 (95% CI 2.8; 55.2)) and those with diabetes (HR 3.00 (95% CI 1.2; 7.6)). Patients with a low social network registered more CVEs (HR 2.1 (95% CI 1.1; 4.1)) than patients with an adequate network, as did the oldest patients (HR 3.1 (95% CI 1.4; 6.9)), subjects who presented with a higher grade of severity of AHT (HR 2.7 (1.3; 5.5)) and those in the last FLC stages (HR 2.5 (95% CI 1.0; 6.2)). A low social network is associated with mortality and the appearance of CVEs in patients with AHT. Low functional social support is associated with the appearance of cardiovascular mortality.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Joaquín Cubiella Fernández for his help with the drafting of this manuscript. This work was funded by Health Research Fund grant FIS 96/1480 (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria) from Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs and by a doctoral thesis grant from the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (Sociedad Española de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria—Semfyc) in 2005.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mariñamansa-A Cuña Health Center, Galician Health Service, Ourense, Spain

    C Menéndez-Villalva & A Naveira-Castelo

  2. Pontedeva Health Center, Galician Health Service, Ourense, Spain

    M T Gamarra-Mondelo

  3. Carballo Health Center, Galician Health Service, Corunna, Spain

    A Alonso-Fachado

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    A Montes-Martínez

  5. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain

    A Montes-Martínez

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  1. C Menéndez-Villalva
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Correspondence to C Menéndez-Villalva.

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Menéndez-Villalva, C., Gamarra-Mondelo, M., Alonso-Fachado, A. et al. Social network, presence of cardiovascular events and mortality in hypertensive patients. J Hum Hypertens 29, 417–423 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2014.116

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