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Hypertension Medication Adherence in Jaffna

This study aimed to assess medication adherence and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending medical clinics at Teaching Hospital Jaffna. The study found that less than half of participants had good adherence to antihypertensive medications. Medication adherence was significantly associated with marital status, alcohol use, hypertension condition, and number of clinic visits in the past three months.

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11 views1 page

Hypertension Medication Adherence in Jaffna

This study aimed to assess medication adherence and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending medical clinics at Teaching Hospital Jaffna. The study found that less than half of participants had good adherence to antihypertensive medications. Medication adherence was significantly associated with marital status, alcohol use, hypertension condition, and number of clinic visits in the past three months.

Uploaded by

parameswarannirushan
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Medication adherence and associated factors among hypertensive patients

attending medical clinics at Teaching Hospital Jaffna.


Nirushan P*1, Arjun P.S.P1, Jegapragash V1, Peranantharajah T2
1
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Jaffna.
2
Teaching Hospital Jaffna.
*niru201830@[Link]

Introduction & Objectives: Hypertension is a most challenging public health problem


worldwide. Developing countries like Sri Lanka shows increased trend in prevalence of
hypertension. Uncontrolled hypertension affects each system of the body. Medication adherence
plays main role in control of blood pressure, prevent complications and get good clinical
outcome. Associated factors with medication adherence should be identified to develop strategies
for the optimum level of medication adherence. This study aimed to assess the medication
adherence and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending medical clinics at
Teaching Hospital Jaffna.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the 224 hypertensive
patients attended to the Medical clinic, Teaching Hospital Jaffna during November 2022. A
pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about socio-
demographic factors and medication adherence whilst Data extraction sheet was used for
identifying treatment related factors. Medication adherence was assessed with the help of
Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) and scores were categorized as good and
poor adherence. Then association was found with selected factors by using Chi square test.
Results: Two hundred and twenty four participants were interviewed with the response rate of
100%. Majority of the participants (n=145, 64.7%) were male. The mean age of the participants
was 64.5 years with (SD=9.6). Good adherence level was noted as 46.4% (n=104) and poor
adherence level was 53.6%. The mean score of Medication adherence was 5.9 out of 8.
Medication adherence had significant association with marital status (p=0.026), frequency of
alcohol drinking (p=0.020), state of the hypertensive condition (p=0.018) and number of clinic
visit at last three months (p=0.037).
Conclusion: The study indicated that less than half of the participants had good level of
adherence to antihypertensive medications. Forgetfulness is the predominant reason for poor
adherence. Identified factors which affected adherence levels were marital status, frequency of
alcohol drinking, state of the hypertensive condition and number of clinic visit at last three
months.
Key words: Hypertension, Medication adherence, Socio-demographic factors, Treatment related
factors, Jaffna.

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In the study, 46.4% of the hypertensive patients demonstrated good medication adherence. This suggests that more than half of the participants were struggling with adherence, pointing to a significant issue in managing hypertension effectively .

The study identified several socio-demographic factors impacting medication adherence among hypertensive patients, notably marital status, which showed a significant association with adherence (p=0.026). Additionally, the state of the hypertensive condition was another factor with a significant association (p=0.018).

Alcohol consumption frequency was significantly associated with medication adherence, with a p-value of 0.020. This suggests that varying alcohol drinking habits influence adherence levels to antihypertensive medications among patients .

The study found a significant correlation between marital status and medication adherence, with a p-value of 0.026, indicating that this socio-demographic factor plays a noteworthy role in how patients adhere to their hypertension medication .

The findings indicate that addressing socio-demographic factors such as marital status and behavioral factors like alcohol consumption can improve adherence. Strategies could include targeted educational programs and structured follow-up that consider these factors, which could be essential for developing countries facing similar hypertension challenges .

The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design using pretested interviewer-administered questionnaires to collect data. This approach is suitable because it captures a snapshot of adherence behaviors and related factors, allowing the identification of patterns and associations at a specific time point .

The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) was used as the key tool to assess medication adherence among participants. The scale helped categorize adherence levels into 'good' and 'poor' by assigning scores, which facilitated identifying specific factors associated with these levels .

The study found a significant association between the frequency of clinic visits in the last three months and medication adherence, with a p-value of 0.037. This highlights that more frequent clinic visits are linked to better adherence .

The primary reason for poor medication adherence identified in the study was forgetfulness. The issue of poor adherence was prevalent, with 53.6% of the participants categorized as having poor adherence levels .

The state of the hypertensive condition significantly affects medication adherence, with adherence levels being associated with whether patients perceive their condition as controlled or uncontrolled. This suggests that self-perception of condition severity could influence their commitment to medication regimens .

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