Is treated hypertension associated with a lower one-year mortality among older residents of long-term care facilities with multimorbidity?

Long-term care facility (LTCF) residents are typically excluded from clinical trials due to multimorbidity, dementia, and frailty, so there are no clear evidence-based rules for treating arterial hypertension in this population. Moreover, the role of hypertension as mortality risk factor in LTCFs has not yet been clearly established. The study aimed to investigate whether treated hypertension is associated with lower mortality among older LTCF residents with multimorbidity. The study was performed in a group of 168 residents aged ≥ 65 years in three LTCFs. Initial assessment included blood pressure (BP) measurements and selected geriatric scales: MNA-SF, AMTS and ADL. Hypertension, comorbidities, pharmacotherapy, antihypertensive drugs and mortality during one-year follow-up were extracted from the medical records. The data was compared in groups: Survivors and Deceased. Survivors and Deceased revealed similar age, DBP, number of diseases, medications, and antihypertensive drugs. However, Deceased had significantly lower SBP (P