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Abstract
Objective: Very few studies have explored the temporal relationship between hypertension and trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The aim of this population-based follow-up study was to investigate whether hypertension is associated with a higher risk of developing TN.
Methods: A total of 138,492 persons with at least 2 ambulatory visits with the principal diagnosis of hypertension in 2001 were enrolled in the hypertension group. The nonhypertension group consisted of 276,984 age- and sex-matched, randomly sampled subjects without hypertension. The 3-year TN-free survival rate and the cumulative incidence of TN were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate the hazard ratio of TN.
Results: In the hypertension group, 121 patients developed TN during follow-up, while, in the nonhypertension group, 167 subjects developed TN. The crude hazard ratio for the hypertension group was 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20–1.92; p = 0.0005), while, after adjustment for demographic characteristics and medical comorbidities, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.51 (95% CI 1.19–1.90; p = 0.0006).
Conclusions: This study shows a significantly increased risk of developing TN after hypertension. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanism of the association between hypertension and TN.
GLOSSARY
- aHR=
- adjusted hazard ratio;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- HFS=
- hemifacial spasm;
- HR=
- hazard ratio;
- ICD-9-CM=
- International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision, Clinical Modification;
- IQR=
- interquartile range;
- MS=
- multiple sclerosis;
- NHI=
- National Health Insurance;
- TN=
- trigeminal neuralgia
Footnotes
Study funding: Supported by the Department of Health (DOH), Executive Yuan, Republic of China (DOH93-TD-M-113-030, DOH94-TD-M-113-004, DOH95-TD-M-113-002).
- Received March 7, 2011.
- Accepted July 6, 2011.
- Copyright © 2011 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
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