| Summary: | Desilu Mahari Desta,1 Dawit Zewdu Wondafrash,2 Afewerki Gebremeskel Tsadik,1 Gebremicheal Gebreslassie Kasahun,3 Segen Tassew,1 Teklu Gebrehiwot,1 Solomon Weldegebreal Asgedom1 1Clinical Pharmacy Unit, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia; 3Department of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Aksum University, Aksum, Tigray, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Desilu Mahari DestaClinical Pharmacy Unit, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, P.O. Box: 1871, Mekelle, Tigray, EthiopiaTel +251-914681245Email desiluma45@gmail.comBackground: Hypertensive emergency (HE) is an acute stage of uncontrolled blood pressure which poses a substantial cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In our setting, the prevalence of HE and the characteristics of patients with a hypertensive crisis are not certainly known yet.Objective: The study assessed the prevalence of hypertensive emergency and associated factors among hospitalized patients with hypertensive crisis.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing records of patients having a diagnosis of hypertensive crisis with systolic/diastolic blood pressure raised to more than 180/120 mmHg admitted to Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (ACSH) from September 2018 to August 2019. Patients’ medical records with complete information were enrolled consecutively. Socio-demographic, clinical characteristics, and other related variables were collected using a structured data collection tool from patient medical records. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Logistic regression was employed to determine factors associated with HE.Results: A total of 141 patients’ records with a diagnosis of a hypertensive crisis were enrolled in the study; the majority were females 77 (54.6%) and residing in the urban setting 104 (73.8%). The mean age of the participants was 58.8 years. HE was found in 42 (29.8%) of patients. Intravenous Hydralazine 39 (27.7%) and oral calcium channel blocker 102 (72.3%) were the prescribed drugs for acute blood pressure reduction in the emergency setting. Surprisingly, patients who had no history of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.469; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.176‒0.933) and female sex (AOR=2.494; 95% CI: 1.111‒5.596) were found to be independently associated factors with HE.Conclusion: The prevalence of HE was found to account a significant proportion of patients. Hence, hypertensive patients should be strictly managed accordingly, and promoting screening programs could reduce the risk of target organ damage.Keywords: hypertensive crisis, hypertensive emergency, hypertensive urgency, target organ damage
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