PREVALENCE OF HYPOCALCEMIA AMONG PATIENTS WITH ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE

Background:Hypertension is a leading public health problem in both developed and developing world. About 1.28 million adults aged 30-79yrs worldwide have hypertension andmost of them are living in low and middle income countries. It is the major cause of premature death in world. Every 1 in 5 has their hypertension status under control. It is single important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Calcium plays an important role in regulating body homeostasis. Association between calcium and hypertension remain uncertain in general population. Methods:Patients with essential hypertension who attended O.P.D of Internal MedicineDepartmentofTDMedicalCollege,Alappuzhawaschosenasthestudypopulation. Sample size was estimated to be 100. Blood pressure was measured by using standard guidelines and were classified according to JNC-8 guidelines. General and systemic examinations done. Data was entered in excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS software. Results:Prevalence of Hypercalcemia among essential Hypertension patients was found to be740 per 1000 persons. The totalcorrected serum calcium levels had a significantnegative correlation with the leveland stage of systolic blood pressurein essential hypertensive patients(p value-0.006). The totalcorrected serum calcium levels had nosignificant correlation with the diastolic blood pressure inessential hypertensivepatients. (pvalue-0.088) Conclusions:Thetotalcorrectedserumcalciumlevelsweresignificantlyloweredinessential hypertensionpatients. Prevalence of Hypocalcemia among essential Hypertension patients was foundtobe740 per 1000 persons.