The Correlation between Hypertension Duration and Anxiety Levels in the Elderly at PKU Muhammadiyah Gamping Hospital Yogyakarta

Abstract

Hypertension is a degenerative disease. It refers to a condition where the systolic blood pressure rises to a value more than 140 mmHg and the diastolic pressure rises to greater than 90 mmHg. The relatively long treatment process is a cause of anxiety in the elderly who suffer from hypertension and are afraid of complications. This study aims to determine the correlation between hypertension duration and anxiety level in the elderly at PKU Muhammadiyah Gamping Hospital, Yogyakarta. This research was a correlation analysis study with a cross-sectional approach involving 50 elderly patients as participants. They were taken using purposive sampling technique. The anxiety level data used the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) questionnaire which was conducted by direct interviews. The normality test in this study used the Shapiro-Wilk test with normally distributed results. The data were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics test with p<0.05. The result showed that the average age of the respondents was 61.9±5.48 years with an average duration of suffering from hypertension 7.02±2.04 years. The incidence of hypertension occurred in early elderly (78%) and middle elderly (22%). Hypertension occurred in both men and women and the anxiety levels experienced by hypertension respondents were mild (34%), moderate (32%), and severe (26%). There was no significant correlation between hypertension duration and the level of anxiety in the elderly at PKU Muhammadiyah Gamping (r=-0.1557; p>0.05).