The evaluation of chronic illness adaptation and life satisfaction of patients who have hypertension diagnosis

Aim: Hypertension in which persistent high blood pressure and serious complications are seen is an important public health problem increasingly in the World. As it affects whole vascular system, it may cause pretty serious vital complications. Quality of life is the way that people perceive their situation in connection with their goals and expectation within the whole of their culture and value judgments. Especially the presence of chronic diseases can impair the quality of life of individuals. In this study, how hypertension affects adaptation status and life satisfaction of patients over 65 years were evaluated. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, sociodemographic form and the Life Satisfaction and Chronic Diseases Adaptation Scales based on the literature were used. Two hundreds and one (201) volunteer hypertensive patients who were registered in Yeşilyurt Tecde Family Health Center and applied between March and December 2020 were included in the study. Data were given as median (min-max) and percentage. The conformity to normal distribution was made by Shapiro Wilk test. For statistical analysis, Kruskal Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson chi-square test, Yatesin corrected chi-square test and Fisher's exact chi-square test were used where appropriate. p<0.05 was accepted meaningful statistically. IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 programme was used in analyses. Results: The average age of patients was 65.56±11.42 for females, and 73.25±11.82 for males. 66 (32.84%) of patients were retired and 90 (44.78%) of patients had hypertension over ten years. 99 (49.25%) of patients were using at least one medication. 194 (96.52%) of patients indicated that they were using antihypertensive medications regularly, and 174 of patients (86.57%) reported that they went to regular physician control. 104 (51.74%) of the participants stated that they walk for at least half an hour a day, and 163 (81.09%) of the participants pay attention to regular nutrition. 102 (50.75%) of participants indicated that they were using their medications regularly, and again 102 (50.75%) stated that they did not attend the trainings given to cope with their illness. 88 (43.78%) of patients stated that they were in contact with patients with hypertension diagnosis about their illness. When it's asked if they had any problem in family relations due to their illness; 100 (49.75%) of the participants stated that their family relations were not impaired and 111 (55.22%) of them stated that they had no difficulty in planning for the future. 81 (40.30%) of the patients stated that they participated in social activities even if they were sick, 59 (29.35%) thought that they would recover completely, and 116 (57.71%) stated that their disease should be under long-term control. Again, 125 (62.19%) of participants said that they tought the treatment they recieved was efficent. 87 (43.28%) participants said that they did given exercises regularly, 104 (51.74%) people care about changes in their body, 81 (40.30%) patients stated that they went to regular health institution examinations, and 99 (49.25%) people thought that their family was not burdened because of their illness. 108 (53.73%) participants declared that they highly trust healthcare workers, 123 (61.19%) participants said they had enough knowledge about their illness, and 113 (56.22%) of patients said that they had enough knowledge about the treatment of their illness. When it was questioned if they were satisfied with their life or not; 45 (22.39%) participants said they were satisfied, 6 (2.99%) of them stated they were completely satisfied. Conclusion: In this study, which we researched the adaptation of chronic illnesses and life satisfaction of patients having hypertension over 65 years, it was found that most of participants were used to their medications regularly and didn't have any problem about their illness adaptation. However, when looking at the answers given to the questions in the scale where we investigated their life satisfaction, it was found that a little more than half of the participants had insufficient life satisfaction. In the light of the findings, a daily activity plan should be created with the patient in order to establish a lifestyle that will increase the life satisfaction of individuals over the age of 65 who do limited physical activity and especially have a more fragile life and the individuals should be supported with motivation to follow this plan. Key Words: Hypertension, Chronic Illness Adaptation, Life Satisfaction