Drug Compliance Among Hypertensive Patients; an Area Based Study

Medication Adherence and Its Association With Quality of Life Among Hypertensive Patients Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Saudi Arabia

Background Chronic diseases require long-term medication and adherence to medication is important for the control of disease as well as prevention of complications. Non-compliance may lead to worsening of the disease, which may affect patients' quality of life. This study aimed to assess the level of medication adherence and its association with quality of life (QOL) among hypertensive patients in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in which 299 hypertensive patients were recruited from the randomly selected primary health care centers. Medication adherence was assessed by Hill-Bone Medication Adherence Scale, and quality of life was assessed by the World Health Organization's Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the association of medication adherence with quality of life. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 (IBM Inc., Armonk, USA). Results The prevalence of poor adherence was found to be 38.8%. We did not find a significant association of medication adherence with any of the four (physical, psychological, social relationship, and environmental) domains of WHOQOL-BREF. However, poor medication adherence was associated with poor perceived overall QOL adjusted β=-0.012 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.021 to -0.002; p=0.018) and health adjusted β=-0.013 (95% CI: -0.025 to -0.002; p<0.018). Conclusion We found a high prevalence of non-adherence among hypertensive patients. This calls for developing interventions to improve compliance with medications to prevent complications of hypertension. Our study could not find a significant association of medication adherence with any of the domains of QOL, while poor adherence was associated with lower overall perceived QOL and health. Nonetheless, worsening of disease due to non-adherence may affect the QOL of patients. We recommend large scale prospective studies to explore the relationship between medication adherence and QOL.

Knowledge of Hypertension and Compliance with Therapy Among Hypertensive Patients in the Bamenda Health District of Cameroon: A Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of hypertension has continued to increase and is now a great burden for health care providers. Obtaining information on the factors affecting compliance to antihypertensive drugs is thus important. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge of hypertension and to determine factors affecting the compliance of hypertensive patients to their antihypertensive drugs.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study involving 221 hypertensive patients in the Bamenda Health District. Validated questionnaires were used. From December 2014 to March 2015, knowledge of hypertension was assessed using a 15-item scale, while compliance was assessed using the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS

14.0%, 53.4%, and 32.6% of participants had adequate, average, and poor knowledge of hypertension, respectively. The antihypertensive compliance rate was 43.9%. Independent predictors of noncompliance were forgetfulness (OR = 0.011, 95% CI = 0.002-0.063), lack of motivation due to the incurable nature of the disease (OR = 0.068, 95% CI = 0.017-0.274), and lack of symptoms of the disease (OR = 0.019, 95% CI = 0.02-0.23). There was a significant association between compliance and blood pressure control (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Knowledge of hypertension was poor. Compliance rate to treatment was low. Some medication-related, patient attitude, and health care provider factors affected compliance. Knowledge positively affected compliance, and good compliance was associated with good blood pressure control. Emphasis should be placed on patient education and reminders to patients to take their drugs.

Social support and adherence to treatment in hypertensive patients: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

It is important to examine factors associated with patient adherence to hypertension control strategies.

PURPOSE

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine whether social support was related to adherence to healthy lifestyle and treatment medication in hypertensive patients.

METHODS

Journal articles were searched in medical (CINAHL, MEDLINE), psychological (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES), and educational (ERIC) electronic databases; in reference lists of selected papers; and in the reference list of a previous review.

RESULTS

Findings of a set of meta-analyses indicated that (a) structural social support was not significantly related to overall adherence, (b) functional social support was significantly and positively related to overall adherence, (c) these findings were further confirmed in meta-analyses conducted on specific types of adherence, and (d) most results were characterized by heterogeneity across studies that was partially explained by moderator analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Functional social support, but not structural social support, was associated with adherence in hypertensive patients.