IJCS | Volume 33, Nº2, March / April 2020

136 Table 1 - General characteristics of the hypertensive individuals from this study (n = 80) Variables Values Demographic Sex (% women) 70,5 Age (years) 57,7 ± 9,7 Educational level (years of study) 9,5 ± 3,1 Clinical parameters Hypertension time (months) 12,4 ± 9,3 Medications (units) 1,8 ± 0,7 SBP (mmHg) 132,0 ± 16,3 DBP (mmHg) 74,4 ± 9,6 Health-related physical fitness Muscle strength (kgf) 31,7 ± 10,5 Body mass index (kg/m²) 30,7 ± 5,3 Quality of life Functional capacity (score) 75,9 ± 21,6 Physical aspects (score) 70,1 ± 38,2 Pain (score) 29,4 ± 21,3 General health (score) 56,3 ± 10,6 Vitality (score) 54,4 ± 12,3 Social aspects (score) 48,2 ± 11,2 Emotional aspects (score) 77,3 ± 38,5 Mental health (score) 57,1 ± 10,3 SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure. Values presented in frequency or mean and standard deviation. worse quality of life in the pain domain compared to men and educational level was directly related to social aspects (p < 0.05). The other factors did not present statistically significant relationships with the quality-of-life domains (p > 0.05 for all). Discussion The main findings of the present study were a) educational level and muscle strength were positively related to functional capacity, while body mass index showed a negative correlation; b) patients with higher educational level presented higher scores in the social aspects domain; c) systolic blood pressure levels showed a positive relationship with the physical aspects domain; and, d) female patients presented worse scores in the pain domain. The quality of life evaluation is an important outcome in different populations, mainly because of its prognostic value. For example, an improvement in this indicator is associated with greater survival rate in hypertensive patients, while a worse quality of life predicts lower survival rates. 16 In the conceptual model proposed by Wilson and Cleary, 32 several factors influence an individual’s quality of life, including physical and social functioning, mental health and general health perception. In this context, the SF-36, which is an instrument that evaluates quality of life, includes eight domains (functional capacity, physical aspects, pain, general health, vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects and mental health) that detail these factors. 14 These domains measure the capacity of performing tasks and daily activities in addition to subjective measures of well- being, including how the individuals feel physically and emotionally regarding their health. 33 Considering functional capacity and social aspects, the present study observed that educational level is associated with these indicators in hypertensive individuals. This data is in accordance with a previous study 34 that evaluated 1,124 hypertensive individuals and identified that patients with lower educational level reported worse scores in the functional capacity domain. A possible explanation for those results is that individuals with higher educational levels have a better perception about healthy habits such as exercising and weight reduction along with the importance of social interaction, 35-37 which are directly related to physical function and social aspects of the quality of life of hypertensive individuals. Additionally, patients with higher educational levels may have better access to good quality medical care, along with better knowledge of health and habits that can influence longevity, increasing life expectancy, 38,39 and positively changing the quality of life of these patients. Muscle strength levelswere also associatedwith higher scores in the functional capacity domain in hypertensive individuals, corroborating with other studies. 40,41 Indeed, a previous study 40 with healthy elderly individuals observed that men and women with lower grip strength were more likely to report deteriorations in general health. Both findings are relevant since they suggest that healthy or hypertensive individuals with lower grip strength have a lower quality of life. In this context, these Silva et al. Factors associated with quality of life Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; 33(2):133-142 Original Article