Evaluation of Medication Adherence Levels of Hypertensive Patients in an Education Family Health Center

INTRODUCTION: Non-adherence to medical and non-medical treatment is the main reason for uncontrolled hypertension (HT) worldwide. It was aimed to evaluate the medication adherence levels of patients with HT in this study.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, patients with HT who applied to an educational family health center from August 2018 to November 2018 and received HT treatment for at least 6 months were included in the study. The form consisted of questions about sociodemographic characteristics, medical information, and lifestyle habits. Morisky, Green, and Levine’s Adherence Scale (MGL) was used to determine patients’ adherence to pharmacotherapy.
RESULTS: A total of 186 patients were included in the study. According to the MGL scale, 26 (14.0%) of the participants were found to be non-adherent to their medication. According to blood pressure measurement results, 89 (47.8%) patients had uncontrolled HT. When sociodemographic characteristics and medication compliance were evaluated, 14 (8.8%) of university and above, 30 (18.8%) were in high school, 21 (13.0%) in secondary school, 64 (40.0%) were in primary school, 14 (8.8%) of literate, and 17 (10.6%) of illiterate patients were found to be adherent to drug therapy (p=0.035). While 87 (54.4%) of the patients whose blood pressure was normotensive were adherent to drug therapy, 73 (45.6%) of the patients who had uncontrolled HT were adherent to drug therapy (p=0.132).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It was observed that high education level was effective in increasing adherence to drug therapy. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between medication adherence and providing blood pressure control in patients.