Role of Illness Perception and Medication Beliefs in Medication Adherence among Hypertensive Patients in South-South Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to determine the influence of illness perception and medication beliefs on hypertension medication adherence.
METHODS: The study was a hospital-based, and cross-sectional study that lasted for 3 months, from March to May 2016. Those included in the study were hypertensive patients aged 18–65 years who had been on hyper-tensive medications for at least 6 months. Data were obtained using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, the brief illness perception questionnaire (BIPQ), beliefs about medication (BMQ), and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale.
RESULTS: Out of 400 respondents, 115 (28.8%) had good adherence to antihypertensive medications, and 91 (22.8%) had controlled blood pressure. The median score of timeline of the BIPQ dimension was 6.0 (0.0–10.0) in the adherent group and 4.0 (0.0–10.0) in the non-adherent group (p=0.001). However, consequence, personal control, treatment control, identity, concern, coherence, and emotional representation were lower in the adherent group than non-adherent group (p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001, and p=0.001, respectively). The median score of the necessity of the BMQ dimension was 18.0 (11.0–22.0) in the adherent group and 13.0 (5.0–22.0) in the non-adherent group (p=0.001). On the other hand, concern, harm, and overuse were lower in the adherent group than in the non-adherent group (p=0.001, p=0.001, and p=0.001, respectively).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study showed that having good illness perception and medication beliefs was linked to adherence to treatment in hypertension patients.