Symptoms reported by elderly patients with isolated systolic hypertension:baseline data from the SYST-EUR trial

Objectives: to determine the symptomatic well-being of elderly persons with isolated systolic hypertension. Design and setting: well-being determined during the placebo run-in period prior to entry to the Systolic Hypertension in Europe (SYST-EUR) trial. Subjects: 641 people, 60 years or older with an average sitting blood press ure of 173/86 mmHg. Outcome measures: 33 symptomatic complaints determined by a standard interv iew. Results: the 437 women complained of 25% of the symptoms and the 204 men 21 % (P < 0.001). A markedly higher prevalence was observed in women compared with men for: pain in the joints of the hands (35% of women complained of t his against 22% of men); 'racing heart' (33% against 17%); dry eyes (16% ag ainst 6%); blurring of vision (35% against 23%); cramps in the legs (43% ag ainst 31%); and a sore throat (15% against 7%). Nocturia was the most frequ ent complaint (68% in both sexes). Eight symptoms increased with age and on e (rash) tended to decline. With increasing systolic pressure women also re ported more headaches, unsteadiness, blurring of vision, irregular heart be at and 'racing heart' but, of these, only headaches increased with diastoli c pressure. These observations were made after adjusting for age, blood sug ar and body mass index (BMI) and were not observed in men. Higher blood sug ars were associated with mouth ulcers, 'racing heart', blurring of vision a nd cramps in the legs. A higher BMI was associated with six symptoms, and a lower age of leaving education with eight. in men, alcohol consumption was related to 'racing heart', and smoking to wheezing and having a dry cough. Conclusions: a high level of complaint was associated with female gender, i ncreasing age, blood sugar and BMI and a low age of leaving education.