RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To assess the factors associated with orthostatic hypotension (OH) in hospitalized elderly patients. DESIGN: Prospective observational single center study. SETTING: A French academic center. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and thirty-one patients without OH symptoms who underwent OH testing. MEASUREMENTS: The OH test was performed when the patient was able to get out of the bed and was no longer receiving parenteral fluids. The blood pressure was measured after a 10-min rest while the patients were sitting and then standing at 1 and 3 min. Demographic data, co-morbidities, current medications and biological parameters were recorded. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 84.3 ± 7 years. The mean CIRS-G score was 10.6 ± 3.8. The OH test was performed 6.3 ± 3.9 days after admission and was positive in 39 (29.8 %) patients (95 % confidence interval (CI) 22, 38) and positive at 1 min in 87.2 % of the cases. Multivariate analysis showed that OH prevalence correlated with diabetes (odds ratio (OR) = 4.23; 95 % CI 1.10, 16.24; P = 0.03), serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D <20 ng/ml (OR = 3.38; 95 % CI 1.36, 8.42; P = 0.008), use of tranquilizers (anxiolytic and hypnotic) (OR = 2.96; 95 % CI 1.18, 7.4; P = 0.02), CIRS-G score (OR = 1.15; 95 % CI 1.01, 1.31; P = 0.03) and lack of diuretics (OR = 0.20; 95 % CI 0.06, 0.63; P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: In older adults, OH is often misdiagnosed because it is asymptomatic. As practitioners may be reluctant to perform the OH test because of time constraints, targeting a subgroup of patients with a higher risk of OH should be worthwhile to prevent further OH complications.