Purpose: Hypertension is a major global public health problem, including rural China. However, studies examining health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for patients with hypertension have been mostly conducted in urban populations. This study aimed to use the EuroQol five-dimensional-five-level (EQ-5D-5L) and its recently developed Chinese value set to analyze HRQoL and its influencing factors among hypertensive population in rural China.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional population-based survey. Standard interview of participants was conducted from July to September 2016 in Donghai County's 334 villages of Jiangsu Province, China. Data collection included the EQ-5D-5L, along with sociodemographic characteristics and disease-related factors such as duration of hypertension, antihypertensive treatment and comorbid conditions. The Tobit regression model was employed to analyze potential influencing factors on HRQoL.
Results: A total of 16,596 adults (18 years and older) with hypertension participated in this study. 62.4% were women. The mean utility score was 0.85 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.23). The proportion of participants reporting pain/discomfort problems was highest, while least patients reported problems in self-care dimension. Females, elderly, illiterate patients, ex-smokers and patients with longer duration of hypertension or comorbidities scored lower on HRQoL than others. Stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease were associated with a larger negative impact on HRQoL among all comorbidities.
Conclusions: The HRQoL was lower in this rural hypertensive population than previously reported urban counterparts. To improve the HRQoL of hypertensive patients in rural areas, it is important to control hypertension and prevent its associated co-morbidities. More attention needs to be directed to elderly female patients with less education who scored much lower HRQoL than their male counterparts.
Keywords: Chinese rural area; EQ-5D-5L; HRQoL; Hypertension.