Low adhesion to medication therapy in systemic arterial hipertension: prevalence and associated factors in primary healthcare

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Abandonment of the treatment can occur without the professionals of the Primary Healthcare identifying the reasons for such behavior which can contribute towards the worsening of the condition. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the association between sociodemographic, cultural and lifestyle factors with adhesion to medication therapy by hypertensive patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with hypertensive patients using medication for controlling blood pressure levels and being treated at primary healthcare units of a Health District of Salvador, Bahia.  The patients included were of ages over 18 years and excluded those with cognitive impairment and also women with gestational hypertension. The dimension of the association between the studied variables and adhesion to medication was estimated using the Odds Ratio (OR) adopting the Confidence Interval of 95% (CI95%). RESULTS: The sample was composed of 185 hypertensive patients and the prevalence of non-adhesion to medication therapy were: marital status single, separated or widow(er) (OR= 2.23; CI95% 1.04 – 4.47), non-alteration to eating habits (OR= 2.51; CI95% 1.12 – 5.59), as well as missing appointments with the doctor (OR=4.20; CI95% 1.16 – 15.18) and clearly understanding what is said during the appointment (OR=0.60; CI95% 0.38 – 0.95). CONCLUSIONS: A large part of the hypertensive patients did not present adhesion to medication therapy, and the associated factors are changeable through light technologies and investments in the quality of primary healthcare. New studies should be promoted with longitudinal designs to identify the causes for the non-adhesion.