RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: High blood pressure is a public health problem for which the assumption of responsibility remains especially difficult in older subjects. Generally, it is associated with other cardiovascular risk factors. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of high blood pressure in older subjects in a particular environment and to evaluate the cardiovascular risk among these patients. METHODOLOGY: This is a longitudinal exploratory study undertaken on 1485 hypertensive subjects of 50 years of age or older, selected from 1999 patients received in three health professional training centers of the community of Lomé, between June 1, 2004 and June 30, 2007. Information had been collected using a card of investigation. Classifications of high blood pressure were those of the JVCVII and the European Society of Cardiology. The data analysis had been made by computer tools. RESULTS: The prevalence high blood pressure was of 74.29%. We had noted a female prevalence (63.8%) with a sex ratio of 0,57 and one middle age of 62.08±9.3 years. Dyspnea (45.9%), chest pains (16.2%) and palpitations (13.2%) were the principal found symptoms. The various listed risk factors were: dyslipidemia (58.1%), obesity (36.12%), alcoholism (16.7%) and diabetes (10.6%). The complications were cardiac (87.81%), ocular (79.8%), renal (19.86%), neurological (4.92%) and arterial (0.99%). The cardiovascular risk was very high at 58.05% of the patients. The mortality rate was of 1.9%. CONCLUSION: High blood pressure is the most frequent cardiovascular risk factor in our country from 50 years of age. Assumption of responsibility for it is by information, education of the population and requires the mobilization of all the social components.