Hypertensive patients: from the characterization to the association of factors related to disease and oral health

This study aimed to characterize and associate factors related to the development of systemic arterial hypertension and oral health of hypertensive patients from a municipality of Ceará. This was a descriptive and quantitative study conducted with hypertensive patients from Aratuba - CE. After consent, a questionnaire was applied. For association between variables, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied according to their applicability. A value of p <0.05 was given. Of the 180 participants, 60% were female and 73.33% had family history of hypertension. Of the hypertensive patients, 53.33% were aware of oral diseases, 60% didn’t conceive the influence of hypertension on oral health and 93.33% admitted their influence on general health. The highest median age was observed among those who weren’t aware of oral diseases and those who didn’t have the perception that hypertension influenced oral health. There was significant association between being male and having this perception. It was concluded that hypertensive patients had adequate habits and behaviors in oral health and were unaware of the influence of hypertension on oral health. Still, some biological and social elements correlated to aspects of oral health and modifiable factors of systemic arterial hypertension.