Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of hypertension and the prevalence of lifestyle disease

Abstract Background/Introduction Behavior restrictions after the advent of COVID-19 dramatically changed our lifestyle, which may have affected self-management of metabolic factors in individuals. Purpose We examined possible changes in the prevalence and management of lifestyle-related diseases in the general population. Methods We enrolled 2582 consecutive participants aged ≥20 years (male=6984, 49.5±11.9 year-old) who visited our hospital for their annual physical check-up at least five times between 2017 and 2022. Participants were divided into 2 groups (with [n=739] or without antihypertensive medication [n=1843]) and changes in parameters that are closely related with lifestyle were examined before (2017-2019) and after (2020-2022) the pandemic of COVID-19. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, or the use of antihypertensive medications. Diabetes mellitus was defined as fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL, HbA1c ≥ 6.5% or the use of antidiabetic medications. Dyslipidemia was defined as LDL-cholesterol ≥140 mg/dL, HDL-cholesterol <40 mg/dL, triglyceride ≥150 mg/dL, or the use of antidyslipidemic medications. Hyperuricemia was defined as uric acid >7.0 mg/dL for men, >6.0 mg/dL for women or the use of anti-hyperuricemic medications. Metabolic syndrome was defined based on Japanese diagnostic criteria (2005). Results The main results are shown in Table. The levels of all parameters were worse in participants with than without anti-hypertensive medication. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia and metabolic syndrome which was higher in subjects with than without anti-hypertensive medication increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the most of parameters were deteriorated after the pandemic, only the management of blood pressure in subjects under antihypertensive medication was improved. Conclusion Behavior restrictions during the pandemic might have unfavorable impact on the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases. Although the control of blood pressure was not worsened, total management was not excellent during the pandemic in hypertensive individuals under medication.Characteristics of study participants