Assessing the impact of antihypertensive therapy on quality of life in the elderly.

Quality of life is becoming increasingly important in assessing the impact of therapy for hypertension in elderly persons. Although the concept of quality of life is new and is in need of further definition, good measures already exist to examine the effects of therapy in the major domains of quality of life such as social, physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning. These measures and recent studies addressing this issue are discussed. Because hypertension is frequently asymptomatic and may involve several medications, successful treatment of hypertension in the elderly population requires consideration of its impact on quality of life.